The Force Within Us
by Patriot Games
Summary: A Force-sensitive orphan with a fallen Jedi's lightsaber, an old B2 battle droid running from its past, a BB unit with a secret, and a disgraced Mandalorian desperate to restore his clan's name. Together, they'll save the Jedi Homeworld from the Sith. (OC x Yang)
1. Intro

**(Hey everyone! 2020 is going to be a great year for Fanfiction so let's kick it off with a brand new adventure within the Star Wars Universe. Just a heads up, I do not plan to update this story very often. Huge thanks to ****gabeherndon308, he requested this story so go check him out. ****Please leave a review, good or bad it helps.)**

**(I do not own Star Wars or RWBY, just my four OCs.)**

STAR WARS: THE FORCE WITHIN US

The First Galactic Civil War is in full swing. The Empire's battle with the Rebellion has spread to every sector of every system in the known Galaxy. However, the heart of the battle remains as the enduring conflict between the Jedi and Sith. With the evil Emperor out to destroy what little remains of the Jedi order, few have dared to come out of hiding and support the Rebellion. Though the times are dark, there is still hope. A Rebellion Special Forces unit has discovered a map to the Ancient Jedi Home world of Remnant. Now, General Rom Kota dispatches one of his most trusted students and his crew to the farthest reaches of the Unknown Regions in the hope of finding and recruiting an army of Jedi warriors.


	2. Origins (Part 1)

**(Hey everyone! I decided to give each OC a backstory chapter starting with the protagonist and the BB unit. The main story itself will pick up soon but I want to do something similar to what The Men from Onyx did. Check that story out if you have not already, because I might draw from it in the future. Please leave a review, good or bad it helps.)**

**(I do not own Star Wars or RWBY, just my OCs)**

…

Shiiak village, Clone Wars:

The villagers stood outside their homes rejoicing as three Jedi Knights and several clone soldiers walked down the street full of dead droids. The village had just been liberated from CIS control. The first Jedi, a Wookie, waved to all the villagers. The second, a human female, checked some droids near her to make sure that they had been destroyed. The third, a Twi'lek male, relayed orders to several soldiers behind him. While all the celebration unfolded, a young boy and girl watched the Jedi closely from their house's window.

"Can you believe it Kate? Those are actual Jedi and clone troopers!" The boy asked his twin sister.

"They're awesome!" Kate said.

"Mom said earlier that they might stay in the village for a couple days too!" The boy said.

"Maybe they'll bring some of those walkers too." Kate theorized.

"Zack! Kate! Dinner is ready!" Their mother called out from the kitchen.

"Awe, we want to watch the Jedi!" Zack yelled back.

"There will be plenty of time to do that later, come eat your dinner first." Their father said.

Kate and Zack looked at each other and then ran into the kitchen. Little did they know it would be the last time they ever entered that room. After dinner, their parents promised them that if they got their chores done they could go and meet the clones and maybe a Jedi too. The twins got to work on their chores as soon as possible and completed them swiftly.

"Okay, you two can go. Just don't stay out after dark." Their mother said before the two eagerly left the house.

The two ran around the village and talked to several clones, most of whom just shrugged them off, and at last arrived at the house where the Jedi were supposedly staying. The siblings ducked behind some baskets to avoid some clones that were guarding the house.

"Alright, this it! Our chance to talk to real Jedi!" Zack said eagerly.

"Should we just go and knock?" Kate asked her brother.

"I guess." Zack said before the two ran to the front porch and knocked on the door.

When the door opened, they met a clone commander with white and silver armor.

"The hell?" He asked in shock. "Get lost kids!"

Zack and Kate got scared and started moving away but a voice stopped them, "Commander Hex, who is it?"

"Just a couple a kids, sir." The commander said brashly.

Zack and Kate watched in amazement as the Twi'lek Jedi came to the door and opened it wide. He then turned to the clone.

"Commander, never send children away. They are our future. All the achievements and victories of the galaxy become void without them. Besides, the wisdom and cunning of a child may surprise you." He said before looking at Zack and Kate. "You need not be afraid. My friend is just a bit cautious; he means you no offence. What are your names?"

"I'm Kate. Kate Raider."

"And I'm Zack Raider."

"Well, Kate and Zack, what brings you two here?" The Jedi asked kindly.

"We wanted to meet a Jedi and some clones." Zack said.

The Jedi grew a huge smile on his face, "In that case, I am Jedi Master Lie Kyron. Come inside, I will introduce you to my counterparts."

Zack and Kate eagerly followed the Jedi into the house as Commander Hex shook his head. Once inside Kate and Zack met Jedi Master Lorraine, the human Jedi, and her padawan Kayye. After a long talk with their heroes, Zack and Kate started heading home. On their way back though, they saw Commander Hex and several of his men walking toward them in an alleyway. Due to their prior experience with Hex, they decided to hide in behind a pile of trash. The clones stopped just feet away from them and started discussing battle tactics when suddenly Hex heard something over his headpiece.

"Hang on, priority one transmission coming through." He said before taking out his holocommunicator.

A figure in a black robe appeared on the device, "Commander Hex, the time has come. Execute order 66."

"It will be done my lord." The clone commander said before ending the transmission. "Get the troops together and storm the command base. They die tonight."

"These guys are going to kill the Jedi!" Zack said quietly.

"We've have to warn them!" Kate said before trying to run in the direction of the house.

"Kate wait!" Zack tried to tell her before she crossed the path of the clones.

"Sir! She saw the transmission!" One of the clones yelled.

"Kill her!" Hex yelled as the soldiers all raised their blasters.

Zack's heart stopped when he saw Kate fall to the ground. He was so deep in shock that he could not even cry or move.

"Where's the other one!" Hex yelled.

"Must have gone to tell the villagers." The clone that spotted Kate said.

"Dammit! Well, we can afford any resistance or witnesses. Destroy the village and everyone in it." Hex said.

"Yes sir!" The clones all said before marching off.

After they left, Zack slowly crawled over to his dead sister. He saw the blaster wounds all across her body and started crying. Off in the distance, an explosion could be heard coupled with screams of villagers being cut down by clones. Zack must have stayed there crying for hours because the next thing he knew, the building on both sides of him had caught fire. The sound of screams dimmed as the number of survivors fell. Zack didn't want to leave his sister, but he knew that if he didn't leave then he might share her fate. Something inside him forced him to stand up and start running. He didn't know what it was, all he knew was he soon passed his house. A house that was now a smoldering wreck. He dashed for the tree line when the sound of a clone firing squad sounded as it cut down a line of captured survivors. Zack made it to the tree line but in his shock, he failed to remember that, it lead to a sharp drop.

Zack woke up in the middle of the night, the entire village blazing in the distance. He slowly crawled to a thick tree but then heard a moaning sound. He slowly peered around the tree and spotted Master Adie Lorraine pinned under a tree. She was trying to lift the log off her legs, which had been crushed when the tree fell. Zack zipped back behind the tree when the dying Jedi saw him.

"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." She struggled to say as Zack peered out again.

"Zack Raider, right?" She asked.

Zack nodded timidly.

"Where is your sister?" She asked as Zack started crying again.

"Oh. I'm so sorry, Zack." She said before Zack ran and laid down next to her.

Zack stayed there crying for a while; in the meantime, Master Lorraine managed to push the log away with the force. She looked at her legs and saw that they were completely shattered. Eventually, a couple of clones came looking around that area and spotted the two down the hill.

"Look down there." The first said.

"Heh, this will be like shooting fish in a barrel." The second said before they both armed their weapons.

By the time Master Lorraine saw the soldiers, it was too late. Several blaster bolts flew toward herself and Zack. Just as she gave up and embraced her fate, Zack threw his hands out.

"NO!" He screamed as loud and as angrily as he could.

The whole forest rocked. The blaster bolts completely reversed course and flew into the heads of the clones. Master Lorraine gave Zack a shocked look. She was about to say something when she heard several voices off in the distance. She grabbed her lightsaber and handed it to Zack.

"Zack, you take this and run as far and as fast as you can!" She said.

"But what about you?" He asked in tears.

"I'll hold them off. Go! Now!" She yelled.

"And may the force be with you." She said quietly before the clones spotted her.

Zack ran parallel to a stream while the fight blazed in the background. He didn't think about it in the moment, but later on, he realized that Master Lorraine put up a pretty good fight because the blaster fire kept up for several minutes. However, without her lightsaber, it was a losing battle. Eventually, the fighting fell silent and the forest became quiet again. The only indication of there ever being a battle was the charred ashes of Zack's village.

Zack could not sustain his rush for long. Eventually, the adrenalin petered out and Zack collapsed on the forest floor. At the beginning of the day, his village had been occupied by droids. At mid-day, he couldn't have been a happier person. Now as the moon shown on the forest, he wished it could all be a nightmare. However, the horrors of this day would never go away. As someone he later met would say, "War leaves scars on everyone. You can't see most of them." If left to his own power, Zack would have died too. Alone out in the wilderness.

Nevertheless, the force had a different plan for Zack. Just as he fell asleep, a wolf-like creature crept closer. At first glance, one might have assumed the beast to be just another wild animal looking for an easy meal. This was not an ordinary animal, however. It stepped out into the moonlight and its full glory revealed itself. It had bright white fur and ice blue eyes. Its coat had no blemishes and it made no sound as it walked. The animal now stood directly over Zack. It inspected the boy and then the lightsaber he carried. The wolf lifted Zack onto its back and grabbed the lightsaber in its mouth. It then ran off into the night.

Smuggler Landing Port, Clone Wars:

Zack woke up in a crate filled with fruit. At first, he thought he might have just hit his head and fallen into a basket, and that everything might have been a dream. He rolled around a bit and saw the lightsaber. His heart sank when he realized that this was his life now. He stood up and looked around the area. The crate stood near a starship in a clearing, obviously a smuggler camp. He looked around at the tree line but stopped when he saw the wolf. It stood a ways off, staring straight into his eyes. Zack looked away for a split second to grab the lightsaber but when he returned, the wolf had vanished. Zack hopped out of the crate but before he could follow the animal into the woods, he heard voices headed his way.

Zack ran and hid inside the ship but accidentally fell down a ramp and landed in the cargo hold. When he came to, he could hear the hum of the engines, signifying that they were in hyperspace. Zack looked around and saw a bunch of similar crates to the one in which he had woken up. He became curious as to their contents, and a bit hungry.

'These guys probably stole this stuff anyways. It wouldn't be wrong to just take a few pieces of fruit.' He thought as he tried to open a crate.

However much he tried, he could not open the crate. Zack suddenly remembered that he had a secret weapon. He looked around where he had fallen for Master Lorraine's lightsaber, but could not find it. He spotted a narrow shaft that lead to a lower level of storage and figured that it had fallen down there. He turned to walk to a ladder that he had seen earlier but came face to face with a BB unit.

"Wow!" He screamed as he backed away from the droid.

The droid made a beeping sound and slowly rolled toward him.

"Sorry, I don't understand binary." Zack said.

The droid looked up at the walkway above and pointed to it with a manipulator arm, then at the ground.

"Yeah, I fell." Zack said.

The droid sounded a happy beep and repeated the motion but pointed to itself.

"You fell too?" Zack asked.

The droid nodded its head.

"Awesome! So you're not with these guys?" Zack asked.

The droid made an angry noise and shook its head.

"Okay. My name is Zack, Zack Raider. What's yours?" Zack asked.

The droid rolled around some and then showed Zack an identification tag on its head. Zack could tell that something had been scratched off the side of the tag but not what it was. The tag itself read SC-43 though.

"SC-43?" Zack asked.

SC-43 nodded.

"Nice to meet you. I'm looking for my…" He stopped when he remembered everything that had happened the day prior. He was about to start crying when SC-43 tapped his knee and dispensed the lightsaber from its body.

"Thanks." Zack said before hugging the droid.

SC-43 did not know who this kid was outside of a name. Nor why he carried the weapon of a Jedi around. Nevertheless, it could tell that something traumatic had befallen him sometime recently. It made a decision right then and there to stick with Zack Raider as his companion. Little did it know had it had just signed up for.

Garel, 3 years later:

The last few months had been ruff ones for Zack and SC-43. The two had survived by hustling street gangs and robbing storm troopers. Needless to say, it had quickly become a dangerous business. They had finally bitten off more than they could chew when they played a rather infamous gang leader and freed two of his favorite slave girls. At the moment, they were running down an ally with several thugs on their tale.

"Get back here you street rats!" One of the thugs, a higher-ranking enforcer, called out.

Zack was still only 11 years old; but thanks to a lot of practice and some limited knowledge of the force from SC-43, he had become quite a formidable opponent, even without his lightsaber. He hopped up an old crate, jumped in a complete mid-air flip, kicked the crate and landed running. The crate fell on a thug and pinned him, removing him from the chase. He used the force to drop a loose pole behind him, taking out two more thugs. At last, the remaining criminals cornered Zack and SC-43.

"You two are going to pay for ripping the boss off!" The enforcer shouted before taking out a small blaster pistol.

"Nah… The only people who are going to pay are you and your thugs." Zack said quite confidently.

"And why is that?" The brute asked.

"Because there are about fifteen storm troopers, that we tipped off, coming down that ally right now looking for you guys." Zack said.

"What!" The mercenary yelled as he turned around and saw the soldiers.

"They're all yours guys." Zack said before tugging on a rope that pulled him and SC-43 onto a roof.

"Dam I hate that kid!" The lead mercenary yelled before a stormtrooper put some cuffs on him.

Zack and SC-43 ran along the roofs for a short while until they reached their hideout. It was a humble shack, decorated with some stolen storm trooper gear and empty cans that Zack thought looked nice. The entire thing had once been a large air conditioning unit for the building below it. Now, it gave Zack the perfect place to hide from Imperial searches and angry gangs. From the outside, it still looked like an old air conditioning unit. However, closer inspection would reveal a well-camouflaged door and even a window.

"Home sweet home," Zack said as he opened the door for SC-43.

The droid rolled inside and under a desk, which it had chosen to be its dedicated space. SC-43 had an unusual personality. It preferred tight and cramped spaces to open ones, and made good use of small amounts of space. Its dedicated area included a recharging station for its battery cells, an access port to the building's systems, and even a rack where it stored spare parts.

The cabin itself still drew power from the main building, though not enough to become noticeable. Zack himself had installed two light panels, which were more than enough to light the interior. Zack had a bed, a desk that he stored parts for his lightsaber and blaster pistol in and used for research and planning purposes, several shelves to store his collection of trinkets, a refrigerator to store food, and a window overlooking the marketplace. Overall, it was comfortable. Zack's old room had not been much bigger anyway so he didn't mind being a bit cramped. Zack settled down into the chair in front of his desk.

"I told you they would take the bait," Zack said.

SC-43 muttered some mildly impressed beeps and returned to searching the building's systems.

"Hey, so what we didn't get Hummit too. That low life will turn up eventually and when he does we'll get him then." Zack said.

Hummit was the gang leader who they had just ripped off. SC-43 beeped again but this time in a different tone.

"Yeah, we should probably get dinner too while we're at it." Zack responded after SC-43 had suggested that they visit the local market place and refill on magazines' for Zack's pistol. The two left their hideout and made their way down to the market place.

The market place was located in a standard commercial plaza. Zack had gotten to know several of the local vendors pretty well and sometimes even took down storm troopers who tried to harass them. Zack may not have been the Empire or the gang's favorite person but he was seen as a local hero by most of the vendors and civilians. Never the less, he constantly looked over his shoulder for bad guys.

Zack and SC-43 were on their way to a black-market arms dealer, which supplied just about everyone that didn't like the Empire when they noticed a man in a dark cloak talking to a fruit vendor.

"Best not to let him see us," Zack said, instantly distrusting the man.

The two eventually walked into the arms dealer's cover shop. Every black market business had a 'front' on Garel. This particular one happened to be a pawnshop.

"Awe, Zack! What do you need?" The Quarren man operating the counter asked joyfully.

"I need some mags reloaded Otto," Zack said before placing a small bag on the counter.

"Alright, that will be 56 credits." The man said looking at the weapon parts.

"Yikes, you guys sure are hiking your prices up," Zack said while he counted out the right amount of credits and placed them on the counter.

"I'm just kidding Zack. Neil heard about what you did to Hummit. He told me that the next time you came around, it would be on the house." Otto said before taking the bag into the back of the store.

Zack and SC-43 looked at each other, "Well that was unexpected."

Suddenly a something detonated in the plaza and blaster fire erupted. Otto ran into the room and looked out the window.

"What's going on? Imperial Raid?" Zack asked.

"No, it looks like mercenaries," Otto said before a shocked look came over his face.

"What?" Zack asked.

"Hummit is out there. He's leading the attack! They've killed the Imperial garrison and are forcing everyone into the center of the plaza!" Otto said worryingly.

The plaza's intercom started up, "Zack Raider! Get your lying hide out here this second or I'm going to start executing people!"

"Otto, tell Neil and his guys get down here ASAP," Zack said before pulling his pistol out and heading for the door. (Think Colt-1911 but futuristic.)

"Don't be an idiot, Zack. The second he sees you, he'll throw a wall of laser at you and then kill everyone in that square regardless." Otto said.

"I have an ace up my sleeve, remember," Zack said before briefly showing Otto his lightsaber.

"Just use it as a last resort," Otto said cautiously before Zack and SC-43 exited the building.

"I'm right here, low life!" Zack yelled after getting a ways away from Otto's shop.

Alexzander Hummit was a human male in his early 30s. He had a massive scar running down his face, pale skin, green eyes, and jet-black hair. He turned and saw Zack, standing with his pistol drawn further out in the plaza.

"Stealing my whores is one thing, you little rat! But tipping the Empire off to me and my operation is unacceptable!" He yelled.

"Okay, let's get this straight! I didn't steal anything! I just outsmarted you and freed a couple slaves! Moreover, I did not tip anybody off either! Your idiot thugs attracted those storm troopers all on their own!" Zack countered.

"Oh go ahead! Take the 'moral high ground!' Make me the bad guy!" Hummit yelled.

"Dude! You're literally holding an entire marketplace hostage right now!" Zack said, pointing out the hypocrisy of that statement.

"Would somebody please kill this kid?" Hummit yelled before most of his thugs opened fire on Zack.

Zack dodged the few shots that were accurate and returned fire, killing two of the thugs. Meanwhile, SC-43 had snuck around the plaza and come behind one of the two riflemen who were holding the market hostage. It knocked the mercenary down by ramming his back leg. The rifle fell into the square where a shopkeeper picked it up and shot the other guard. The original thug tried to get back up but SC-43 tazed him with its electric prong tool and knocked him out. The people slowly began filtering out of the plaza via an ally way.

Zack had leeward Hummit and his remaining goons down a street that he knew would dead-end. Hummit laughed when it did.

"You're cornered with no cover kid! This is the end for you!" He yelled in an evil tone.

"Yeah, this _is_ the end of the line… For you." Zack said before using the force to drop an archway behind the thugs and enclose them in the ally. He then drew and activated his lightsaber. The blade glowed bright green and lit up the entire ally.

"Oh hell." Hummit said before Zack began cutting down his thugs.

Hummit ran and started trying to climb the debris but Zack used the force and pulled him down to him. By now, Zack had sliced through all the mercenaries and the only two people left were him and the gang leader.

"N-now, there's no need for rash decisions. We can work something out." Hummit pleaded as Zack got closer.

"Nope. The only thing you're going to get is a one-way ticket to an Imperial prison." Zack said.

Hummit smiled, "You know, I could tell the empire about you if you did that."

"Eh." Zack shrugged and dropped a brick on Hummit, knocking him out. "They'll just think you're using your own spice."

Zack started tying a cord around Hummit's hands when he got a strong feeling that someone was behind him. He turned around and ignited his lightsaber, only to come face to face with the cloaked man from the market place.

"Stay back! I know how to use this thing!" Zack said.

The man didn't seem fazed at all, rather he chuckled. "Now where in the galaxy did you get that?"

'The hell?' Zack thought. 'Most people either pass out or run in terror after that line.'

"Sorry for being a bit mysterious." The man said before removing his hood. "My name is Rahm Kota, and I'm one of the few surviving Jedi."

Zack shut his lightsaber off and stood amazed. His fascination with Jedi hadn't gone away after Shiiak. Rather, it grew stronger when he discovered that he too had force abilities.

"Why are you here?" Zack asked, with his mouth nearly on the floor.

"I came to Garel looking for some arms dealers to supply my resistance. When I explained who I was to your friend, Neil, he pointed me in this direction. Funny how the force works sometimes. Say, you wouldn't be interested in overthrowing a Sith lord would you?" Kota asked.

Zack smiled. Just then, SC-43 rolled down the pile of debris and over to Zack.

"Count us in," Zack said.

**Q and A:**

**Before Anyone Asks: Yes, Star Wars weapons have mags! They run on compressed gas, which when fired is ionized and channeled down the barrel forming a blaster bolt. Naturally, this makes the magazine much higher capacity and much smaller in size. Fun fact, the E-11 that most stormtroopers carry has a standard capacity of 500 rounds per mag.**

**Guest: Is this a mixture of Canon and Legends?**

**Answer: Yes, I'm going to pull from a variety of sources to make this story work. However, I'm giving special consideration to Canon, the EU, and Legends. **


	3. Origins (Part 2)

**(Hey everyone! I'm massively impressed at how much popularity this story has gotten, even though it just started. I do still intend for this story to be a side project, as A New Mission and Red vs RWBY vs Blue still are my main stories. However, I will defiantly keep this story going, as you guys have been hugely supportive. Please leave a review, good or bad it helps.)**

**(I do not own Star Wars or RWBY, just my OCs)**

…

Moltok: Clone Wars

J3E4K719 stood at the end of a bridge, contested by republic and CIS forces. It was firing its dual arm cannons at a clone soldier who had been surrounded by several other droids.

"Die, Republic dog!" It shouted mechanically.

The clone stuck his blaster out briefly and destroyed a B1 battle droid that got too close. He made the fatal mistake of pushing his luck and trying to shoot the B2, who was tearing his cover apart. J3E4K719 nailed the unfortunate clone in the visor, killing him instantly.

The super battle droid turned its attention to the other side of the bridge where the republic was pushing in, aided by a Female Vurk Jedi carrying a blue lightsaber. The droid began an ominous march forward while firing its blaster cannons at the Jedi. It had to approximate the Jedi's position due to the violent sand storm that had engulfed the battlefield hours earlier.

J3E4K719 kept walking forward and firing. Another step, another shot. Every action was mechanical and without purpose or intent. Every action was governed by a factory grade set of code designed to do nothing more than kill. No purpose, no intent. No remorse for the lives it had taken. Another step, another shot. It felt nothing as it saw its fellow droids get blown to bits and sliced in half. As it neared the Jedi, who was easily cutting down any droid that she got close to, it felt no fear. Another step, another shot.

Jedi knight Jika Kijjia spun with her lightsaber held over her head, decapitating the last droid in between herself and J3E4K719. The droid kept walking forward, almost like a zombie, as it fired at the Jedi. She easily dodged and deflected the blaster blots, grazing J3E4K719's shoulder with the rebounds. She quickly closed the distance while the droid was stunned, and sliced its right arm off. The droid stepped back defensively, as Kijjia threw her palm out at the droid. J3E4K719's armor buckled in on itself as the whole droid was sent flying off the bridge.

A broken and barely functional droid fell nearly 30 stories down a canyon, and landed on a moving hyper-train. J3E4K719's screen gave way to static and error messages as the whole droid shut down.

…

Moltok scrapyard: Four years later

Systems: Rebooting

CPU: Online

Core Memory Module: Online

Status: Optimal

Vision Units: Online

Status: Optimal

Tactical Systems: Online

Armament Status: Complete

Power Cell Level: 100%

Shield Emitter: Online

Firewall / Security: Optimized

Introducing Software Patch:

{

Ethical Software ()

Logic Patch ()

Enhanced Tact Software ()

}

Software Patch: Complete

Adaptive Personality Module: Functional

Reboot: Complete

Restarting…

The battle droid came to inside a run-down train car that had apparently been converted into a mechanic shop. It looked around and saw an ugnaught looking at a small screen.

"Yes! The reboot was successful!" The ugnaught said before throwing his hands into the air.

"What happened?" The battle droid asked.

"And I see the enhanced speech patterns I included in the personality module have kicked in too." The mechanic said in a semi-Russian accent. "Ah! Where are my manners? I am Boris Key. I use to be a droid smith here for the locals. Those skills helped me put you back together."

J3E4K719 ran a self-diagnostic and found massive modifications. It looked at its legs and found they have been completely replaced for much bulkier and stronger legs. His hip joints had also been completely replaced for much stronger variants.

"You've upgraded me." It said.

"Upgrading doesn't do the job justice. More like complete redesign and overhaul." Boris said.

"What's the status of the CIS garrison?" J3E4K719 asked.

"CIS?" Boris asked, surprised.

"You sound surprised?" The droid observed.

"I haven't heard anybody say CIS in four bloody years. The Republic came, wiped them out, and then became the Empire." Boris said.

J3E4K719 looked down at the ground, "We lost?"

"We all lost." Boris said.

"What do you mean?" J3E4K719 asked.

"The Republic destroyed General Grievous, and ended the war. But the Chancellor of the Republic painted the Jedi as traitors and had them all exterminated. After that, no one could stop the rise of the Empire." Boris explained.

"The Jedi are gone?" J3E4K719 asked.

Boris hung his head down, "I'm afraid so. And without them, there is no hope of overthrowing the empire. That is why I built you."

"What?" The droid asked curiously.

"The Empire doesn't have a strong presence on this planet yet, so they've set gangs and criminals up as the puppet government here. At least until they have the troops and power to take over properly. Needless to say, those fifthly animals need to be stopped." Boris said with disgust.

"What have they done?" The droid asked curiously.

"What haven't they done? They rob merchants in the streets, molest women as young as seven, kill whoever they please, arson whole sections of the town, and all in the name of 'justice'!" Boris yelled before sitting down and relaxing. "I built you to stop them. I built you to bring hope and safety back to a community that has not known the meaning of those words for years. I built you, to be a voice for those who do not have one, a shield for those who are hated, and a protector for the weak."

"But I'm a battle droid. If they Republic won, won't they all hate me as well?" J3E4K719 asked.

"I can't answer that question. All I can tell you is that trust is earned, and you can earn it." Boris said. "And before I forget, I am an old man after all, what is your name?"

"My designation is J3E4K719." The droid said.

"I'm not even going to try to remember that." Boris said before starring at the ceiling for a second. "J3E4K… Well that's it."

"What is?" The battle droid asked.

"Your name, it will be Jek." Boris said.

"Jek…" The battle droid rolled the name around a couple times. "I like it."

"Well then, Jek. Let us go over your modifications. Make sure everything is in working order as I list it off." Boris suggested. "I installed ethical software as well as an adaptive personality chip, so you can tell right from wrong and develop your own personality. I also overhauled your security measures so that nobody can slice your systems."

"A reassuring thought." Jek said.

"Certainly. As you noticed before, your legs are completely redesigned. None of that separatist make due junk. They're much more durable and powerful now. Plus, they can take a hit." Boris said.

"How powerful?" Jek asked.

"Think kicking through a wall." Boris said.

Jek pondered that analogy for a second, "I could get used to that."

"Your armor is a carbon durasteel composite. Extremely tough and nearly blaster proof. You also have a shield projector on your forearm. You would need a rocket launcher to punch threw it. Use it sparingly though, as it will drain your power cells if left active." Boris said.

"Roger Roger." Jek said as a joke.

"Good to see the humor protocols work. Now, on to the fun stuff. Your arm cannons have been replaced with heavy energy repeaters, two on each wrist. They will cut a squad down faster than you can imagine and overheat about as fast. Use them in short 20 round bursts. That will be more than enough and will assure they do not melt on your hands. You also have two plasma tipped blades on each arm. They can block a lightsaber and cut through most metals, but I would not try deflecting blaster bolts with them." Boris said.

Jek deployed the blades, which folded out to the sides of his arms. They glowed a bright blue-ish purple and made a noticeable hum.

"However, I saved the best for last. On your left shoulder, you are equipped with a concealable guided missile launcher." Boris said.

A panel on Jek's shoulder retracted and revealed a magazine of small guided missiles as well as a camera for locking targets.

"It packs a massive explosive charge, capable a destroying Starfighters and smaller walkers. In addition, the guidance system is stolen Imperial tech; meaning that it will not miss. The catch is that it is rather ineffective against infantry and you need to lock yourself into a bracing position to fire the rockets safely." Boris said.

"How many rockets does the clip hold?" Jek asked.

"Five. All the more reason to conserve your ammunition." Boris explained.

"Sounds like you built me to take an army on and win," Jek said.

"Indeed. I just hope that you do win." Boris said. "Now, let us take a look around town. Get you socialized. But you'll need to wear this."

Boris handed Jek a large cloth with cutouts for hands and eyes.

"What's this for?" Jek asked.

"The empire has placed all remaining battle droids on a shoot on sight status. If any gang member sees you, they won't hesitate to kill us both." Boris said.

"They can try," Jek said before standing up.

With its new modifications, the battle droid stood a massive eight feet tall. (About 2.5 meters)

"Who does it feel?" Boris asked.

"Like I could kill an army of clones with my bare hands," Jek said enthusiastically.

"That is the spirit. Come now. We have places to go, things to do, and people to see." Boris said as Jek put the cloak on.

The two stepped out of the broken down train car where Boris had made his dwelling. A strong wind blew sand around as the giant red sun beat down on a desolate and unforgiving desert. As they made their way out into the open desert, Jek's cloak thrashed about in the wind. Here, one had to wear a special mask to breathe outside due to the high amount of sand in the air itself. Visibility was mediocre at best and absolutely zero at worst.

"If you die out here, you don't have to worry about burial!" Boris joked as they walked.

Though a cut of humor, Boris' words rang ever true. Anything that dared to stay still in this climate would be engulfed by sand in a matter of minutes. Moltok's environment was brutal. The planet had almost no naturally accruing water sources, and the harsh sand storms prevented any sufficient moister farm from working. The few water sources on the planet were either contaminated with high salt content or imported and maintained by the inhabitants. The only wildlife on Moltok consisted of small worms that stripped corpses around the towns and small populations of stray pets. Neither had a long life span.

When Jek arrived at the town of Joankert, he discovered that few people possessed a better quality of living than Moltok's wildlife. The arch that served as the entrance to the city carried several scorch marks, similar to those left by blaster bolts, on its side. Jek observed them briefly before looking over to Boris.

"Tragic those marks are. The gangs line 'enemies of the empire' up against that post and kill them one at a time, forcing their friends, neighbors, and family to watch. All the while they cheer and drink like dogs." Boris said with disgust.

"Why hasn't anybody tried to stop them yet?" Jek asked.

"You'll see," Boris said ominously as they continued into town.

The main body of the town itself was not dirt poor. It had environmentally controlled buildings with efficient streetlights. The buildings themselves were round and anywhere from one to three stories tall. The roads were only distinguishable because they were frequently used, and therefore turned a slightly lighter color. Boris continued deeper and deeper into the town.

"Where are we going?" Jek asked.

"You asked why nobody has tried to push the gangs out yet," Boris said as they stopped in front of a burnt down building. "This house is why."

Jek took a long look at the house, "Why one home?"

"It's not just this house. It's that one down the street, and the one across from it, and the one in the corner…" Boris continued for several minutes.

For the first time, Jek felt something, something real. It was shock, the kind you get deep in your gut when you hear about something horrible. However, at the very bottom of it all was something else. It was unbridled rage.

"But, why?" Jek finally asked.

Boris held a tear back as he explained. "They're the homes of everyone who tried to oppose the gangs. Most of them were the homes of young families, just rebuilding their lives after the clone war. Their occupants did not have a chance to get out either. They burned to death."

"All of them!" Jek asked in shock.

"Men, women, children. It makes no difference to them. They kill anyone who speaks out against anything they do. Moreover, they demand that everyone openly support their actions." Boris said before bowing his head. "I should know. This house belonged to my daughter's family."

The old man broke down and fell to his knees on the sidewalk. Maybe it was Jek's new ethical programming, or maybe it was something more human. Regardless, Jek felt sorrow and empathy for the first time, for his creator. Boris eventually stopped sobbing and looked at Jek,

"You built me to avenge her, didn't you?" Jek asked.

Boris wiped his nose on his sand-covered sleeve, "I built you to avenge them all."

Jek eventually picked the old man up and carried him into a building on a nearby street that served as a pub. Jek sat Boris down at a corner table before walking over to a hostess.

"Excuse me, my friend is tired. Can you get him some water and a meal please?" Jek asked the Twi'lek.

The hostess looked at Boris, who had placed his head against the table to rest.

"Certainly." She said before walking away.

Jek returned to the table and sat down.

"For someone who fought in the clone war, you have a _horrible_ taste for pubs," Boris said, trying to crack a joke.

Jek did the droid equivalent of rolling his eyes. Suddenly a group of five men burst in the door. Shouting and screaming joyously. They wore scrapper like gear, and each carried some kind of blaster pistol and knife. They could have sat anywhere but instead walked up to a couple at the bar counter, tossed them off their seats, poured their meals and drinks on them, and sat in their seats and those surrounding them. All while laughing hysterically about their evil deeds.

Jek paid close attention to the couple. Any normal person would instinctively fight back, even if outnumbered. It was a matter of pride and protection for the other person. These two had nothing but fear on their faces, genuine terror. Jek clenched his fists, stood up, and began powering up his energy repeaters. The rage from before began to boil up as he watched the two poor lovers cautiously find another table.

Boris sensed Jek was about to do something rash, "Stop!"

"But you built me to stop them from hurting innocent people. Well, they're hurting innocent people." Jek observed.

"Now is not the time, nor the place to start a war. And the second you do _anything_ to provoke them, war is what it will be." Boris said before Jek begrudgingly sat down.

For another ten minutes, Jek sat watching those sub-human slobs make a mess, cuss at the bartender, wave their blasters around boyishly, and drink. Eventually, the hostess came back with a plate of hot food and a cup of cold water.

"Here you are sir." The young orange-skinned Twi'lek said as she placed the food in front of Boris.

"Anything for you sir?" She asked Jek.

Jek looked puzzled for a second, "No. No thank you."

Boris pulled his wallet out, "Alright, how much do I own you?"

The hostess smiled, "It's on the house, sir. Looked like you needed a lift in your day."

One of the gang members overheard this and decided to ruin that 'lift' in Boris's day.

"Oh, Leena!" The borderline animal called, getting the hostess' attention.

The Twi'lek clenched her teeth and turned around.

"I hope you plan on charging these gents the full price as well as Imperial sales tax. It would be a shame if you… Slipped up. Especially after your mother's accident." The man said slyly.

The girl grit her teeth and shut her eyes for a second. Boris reached out and grabbed her hand.

"It's okay, miss. We will pay the full price." Boris said kindly, trying to defuse the situation.

Jek had other ideas though. He had been angrily staring at the thug for the length of the conversation and had devised a plan. He stood up and walked over to the thug.

"Excuse me sir, but I believe imperial law has no bearing on private selling prices. And therefore its officers have no right to enforce a full price purchase of any item." Jek said as the whole room went quiet.

Boris and Leena swallowed hard in anticipation of what came next.

"Pal, what do you know about Imperial law?" The lead thug asked smugly.

"I think the better question is what do you know about it?" Jek said.

The thugs all looked at each other, as Jek was a rather imposing figure.

"Excuse me? Do you know who we are?" The lead thug asked.

"The enforcers of the Imperial law in this town." Jek said.

"That's right! So where do you think you get off lecturing us on our own law?" The gang member asked more menacingly.

Jek walked uncomfortably close to the man, who stood only about 5 foot 6.

"I think that you can't sight the law code that proves your point." Jek said.

"Oh yes, I can! It's… It's… Hold on, let me think." The thug said as he tried to make something up in his head.

"Your food is getting cold." Jek said as a motivator.

The man, being a total idiot, could not come up with any decent fake law code. He looked down and sighed.

"You better watch your back at night." The man said in defeat.

"I won't have to, that's your job." Jek said, inspiring a small giggle from everyone present; including a couple of gang members.

The thug took what little pride he had left and exited the building, followed by the other gang members.

Everyone let out a cheer and started clapping for the battle droid. Jek walked over to the counter where the thugs sat and grabbed two plates of food. He then walked over to the table of the couple from before and set the plates down.

"Here, they won't be needing these." Jek said.

The two looked shocked and bewildered but thanked the hooded hero profusely. Jek then returned to Boris's table and sat down.

"That was risky beyond belief." Boris scolded.

"And it worked." Jek argued.

"What if it hadn't?" Boris asked. "You need to know your enemy before you meet him on the battlefield."

"I couldn't just let them push these people around," Jek said.

Boris sighed, "I guess I should be proud of the fact that you risked everything to stand up for innocent people. However, you have a long way to go before you're ready to face these animals let alone take that cloak off around anyone other than me."

Boris finished his meal and then turned to Jek again.

"Never the less, you made a good start in earning that 'trust' we talked about before. Word will spread about your actions here. Once people realize that someone is standing up to the gangs and surviving, they will rally behind you." Boris said before the two began the journey back to the scrapyard.

…

Joankert: One year later

Jek felt like he had walked every street a thousand times, partly because he had. Boris and Jek had spent the past few months creating a battle strategy for the long awaited day. A day that got closer every second. Jek had indeed inspired the people of Joankert. On a weekly base, he would stop a gang member from perpetrating some atrocity. The gang members knew his figure by sight but so did the innocent people. The atmosphere of despair and suffering gave way to one of suspense. Everyone knew a violent confrontation was inevitable, but no one knew when. Jek entered the pub from before, an establishment he frequented now, and saw two male gang members giving Leena a hard time.

"Come on Leena. Do it for your poor mother." The bigger of the two said.

Leena saw Jek walk in and turned around to face the gang member who tried touching her inappropriately, "Don't even think about it! Get out of my store, now!"

"Oh! Is that how you talk to an imperial officer?" The man said slyly, not noticing Jek coming up behind him.

"First of all, you never went to an academy. So stop saying you are something you are not. And second, get out before I have him throw you out!" Leena snapped.

The man's face dropped when he saw Jek.

"I'm not below it." He said.

The thug growled before he and his buddy got up and left. Jek kept an optical sensor of the men until they were well outside the store. Jek turned to Leena.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"You ask me that every day. And every day it's the same answer." Leena said with a smirk.

"How about your mom?" Jek asked.

"She's getting better. Yesterday she even took a couple of steps on her own." Leena said.

Leena's mother had suffered a terrible accident about a year and a half back. Jek didn't know many of the details but it left her paralyzed from the waist down.

"Where's Boris? He usually comes with you?" Leena asked.

"He opted out of this trip. All the walking over the past few weeks has gotten to him." Jek said to his friend.

"So he finally let you off your leash?" Leena asked.

"More like he can't hold it anymore. He is getting old. Plus, I don't intend to keep this cloak on forever." Jek said.

"I know what you mean. These guys really want you gone. Just imagine their faces when they find out there's a battle droid under this old rag." Leena said.

Leena had known about Jek's secret for some time now. In fact, she was the first person Boris had let in on their plot. She had been helping Jek and Boris by mapping strategic areas throughout the town. Beyond the official relationship, she and Jek had become great friends.

"Hopefully we won't have to put that off much longer. Boris says that we're almost ready to…" Jek was cut short by a man running in the door yelling something unintelligible.

"Slow down pal. What's going on?" Leena asked the out of breath-man.

The man took a long inhale and then turned to the Twi'lek and battle droid.

"It's the gangs! They just sent a whole pack of thugs out on speeders toward the scrapyard! They're bringing flame throwers!" The man said.

Leena looked straight at Jek, "Come on, we'll take my speeder!"

The battle droid followed close behind as Leena ran behind the pub and primed her speeder. Jek got in and the two took off into the setting red sun. Every second felt like an hour to Jek. He ran conducted weapons readiness evaluations once every few seconds. Once the two got near the scrapyard, they could see smoke. Leena parked the speeder before she and Jek jumped out.

"Stay here!" Jek yelled before racing into the burning junkyard.

Leena scoffed before drawing a blaster pistol hidden in her skirt and following Jek. Once Jek breached the outer walls of the yard, he threw his cloak away and powered up all his weapons.

Anything flammable had caught fire. It seemed as though the thugs had already finished their job and returned to Joankert. Jek made his way to the train car, which he once called home, now in flames. Jek punched straight through the wall and entered the train car. Smoke prevented Jek from seeing anything but he heard violent coughing from a corner of the room. He dashed over to it and picked Boris up, then ran outside and straight for the entrance. He had nearly made it when he saw a single remaining thug point his flamethrower straight at the droid. Before the thug fired though, a yellow blaster bolt hit him in the side of the head. Leena stepped out from a corner and helped Jek out of the yard and back to the speeder.

Jek set Boris down on the hood of the speeder, "We're going to get you help!"

Leena noticed a hole in the old man's shirt, which upon closer inspection revealed a blaster wound on his chest.

"Jek… I need to tell you something." Boris said in between coughing.

"No! Save your energy!" Jek said while trying to find a first aid kit.

Leena held a tear back as she pointed out the wound to Jek, "You better listen. He's not got long."

Boris forced the words out of his mouth between coughs, "Jek. I did not just build you to avenge my daughter. I built you to live the life that she never got to live… You are my greatest success and my legacy. More than that, you've been like a son to me, and I could not be more proud of what you are becoming."

Boris started coughing more violently and finally laid his head back. Jek dropped to his knees as Boris took his last breath. Leena gave Jek sometime before covering Boris's body with a spare blanket.

The two eventually laid the body down on the sand as the wind picked up. Jek watched in agony as his creator, mentor, and father figure was slowing taken by the desert. Leena found a pole and placed it next to the burial site to mark Boris's final resting place. The two sat on the speeder for a long while after the burial, neither saying a word for hours.

"What now?" Leena asked.

"I make this right," Jek said.

"How? They'll be expecting you?" Leena asked.

"I don't care. Even if I go down, I'm taking them with me." Jek said.

Leena sighed, "I guess there's no point in trying to stop you then. Come on, I'll drive."

Jek took a final look at Boris's grave before boarding the speeder. The sun finally set as total darkness engulfed the desert. When they arrived back at the town, the first thing they noticed was how empty it looked. Leena pulled over to the side of a building as the two disembarked the speeder. A seemingly drunk man sat humming something at the corner of the building.

"Hey! Where is everyone?" Jek yelled at the man.

The homeless drunk laughed, "They're all in the courtyard of the mayor's house. Some kind of speech about the empire."

Leena and Jek made their way on foot to the entrance of the building where two guards confronted them. They did not expect a battle droid, however. Jek grabbed the first by his neck before wrenching his head to an unnatural angle. The second turned to try calling for help but received a blaster bolt in the head from Leena. The Twi'lek picked up a rag laying on the ground and handed it to Jek as the main gate opened.

"Put this on. We'll need the people to recognize you before the shots start flying." Leena said as she hid her weapon.

The two walked inside and toward the back of a large crowd. At the front, a man in imperial like command armor stood giving a speech.

"As you all are well aware, there have been reports of supposed 'rebel' activity in this system. Why anyone would want to reject our glorious empire, I have no idea. However, rest assured that these enemies of the empire are being dealt with swiftly and without mercy!" The commander said before an aid walked up to him and whispered something in his ear.

'Rebels?' Jek thought to himself.

The commander turned back to the audience, "And speaking of enemies of the empire… It appears as though there is one in our midst."

The crowd started looking side to side in somewhat distrust.

"Oh, but don't bother searching good citizens of the empire. We already know who the traitor is. Allow me to reveal them to you." The mayor said arrogantly before someone behind Jek pulled his cloak off.

The crowd all stood shocked and backed away when the battle droid lost its disguise.

"Awe scrap." Jek sighed.

"Now I have heard rumors of this bygone menace supposedly causing trouble for my authorities to keep the peace…" Jek cut off the commander.

"Your authorities are paid thugs! I sure as hell caused trouble for them but not the detriment of peace!" Jek yelled.

"So it speaks." The commander said surprised. "Well, if you say that you've helped these people then let's gauge their opinion of you."

The commander turned to the crowd, "Who among you would betray your empire and the peace it brings for a war criminal?"

Nobody spoke up.

"Seriously! Anyone! Even if hypothetically?" The mayor asked.

"I will!" Leena yelled before stepping in front of Jek. "He might have been a battle droid, but he's done more to protect me, my family, and my business than the empire ever has!"

"Anyone else?" The commander asked annoyingly.

"I will too!" A man said walking in front of Jek. "I don't care if he's a battle droid! He stood up to your thugs after they robbed and assaulted my wife and me!"

Jek recognized the man from the pub, the first day he visited it.

"I'd give my life for this here droid. War criminal or not!" A Quarren man said as he too stepped in front of Jek. "He saved my son from being hit by one of your drunk thugs in a speeder!"

Another elderly human stepped in front of Jek, "He got me to a hospital after I fell and broke my leg. And none of your imperial enforcers did a thing to help!"

A Bothan man joined the growing crowd, "He told your corrupt thugs off when they tried to make me overpay my taxes!"

Another person stepped out, "He helped me fix my speeder after your thugs vandalized it!"

Another, "He saved my daughter from being groped by your subhuman thugs on her way to school!"

Another, "He caught my father after he fell off a ladder your thugs messed with!"

Another, "This droid is no monster! He risked his life saving my roommate and me from a building your thugs torched!"

More and more people filed in. Eventually, almost the entire town stood with Jek. The mayor stood on the stage, powerless and enraged.

"Traitors! All of you!" He yelled.

"And what are you going to do about it? Kill the entire town?" Leena asked.

"I will preserve order!" The mayor yelled as the thugs began training their weapons on the crowd.

"Stop!" Jek yelled as he pushed his way to the front. "I might not have fought for the republic, but you're dead wrong if you think I'm going to let people like you corrupt it! How far you have fallen! From building a clone army to keep innocent people out of military service, to using mercenaries and thugs to keep them in line with fear."

Jek turned to the crowd, "None of you are traitors. The only traitors here are them."

Jek pointed to the mayor.

"So don't let them oppress you when they're the ones who should be behind bars or in the ground! They only have power when you're afraid of them!" Jek yelled.

The guards were starting to sweat, as they were outnumbered 30 to 1. The commander was not letting this go any further though.

"I will not tolerate this rebellion! This crowd is to disperse immediately!" The commander yelled.

"Make us!" Leena yelled.

"You don't control us!" Another man yelled.

"We're sick and tired of you and your Empire!" Someone else yelled.

"You're the one who is going to leave," Jek said, being the closest to the commander.

The crowd started rioting, grabbing at the guard's weapons and beating the ones who got too close. The commander pulled a small blaster pistol from his coat and aimed at a nearby rioter. A shot was fired, and the crowd went silent.

The commander's face fell into sheer horror as Jek stood up after shielding the rioter from the blast, a burn mark across his back. The entire crowd went from trying to disarm the guards, to trying to kill them. Chaos erupted while the commander continuously fired at Jek, who just shrugged off every impact and kept walking toward the coward of a man. He finally got within arm's reach and grabbed the blaster out of the imperial's hands, crushing it. The commander screamed a curse at Jek before running into the main building.

"Jek!" Leena yelled.

Jek turned and saw a thug wresting with his friend over her gun. He ran up to the man, impaled him with his plasma blades, and tossed him into another thug.

"There's a high powered com station inside! If he gets it working, he could contact the imperial garrison of a neighboring system and tell them to send troops! You've got to stop him!" Leena yelled.

"Stay outside and help the people! I'll put an end to him and that com station!" Jek yelled before running to the door of the building and cutting through it with the blades.

Ten thugs and a couple of actual stormtroopers opened fire on Jek after he entered the main lobby. Jek powered up his energy repeaters and mowed them all down in a matter of seconds. An imperial security droid tried to take him from behind but Jek grabbed it, smashed its chest in, and blew its head off with one shot from his repeater. Two more storm troopers emerged from a turbo lift and opened fire on Jek. The battle droid charged them, tanking every shot lucky enough to hit him. When in range of the first trooper, Jek swung his arm vertically. The unfortunate stormtrooper dropped to the floor in two pieces. The second screamed while he continued to fire. Jek walked over to him, crushed his blaster, and kicked the man through a nearby stone pillar. Before the droid entered the turbo lift, however, a laser turret dropped from the ceiling in the lobby and began firing on Jek. The droid jumped behind another stone pillar as he readied his guided missile launcher. He stepped into the open, locked in a brace position, and fired the rocket.

The commander stood in his office, watching the chaos outside as two mechanical droids desperately worked on a malfunctioning com system. The commander looked at his pistol and shook his head. He walked over to a clone rifle encased behind glass. He aimed his pistol at the side of the glass to break it but missed when the whole building rocked with a loud explosion from the lower floor. The commander shot the glass, grabbed the rifle and began furiously remilitarizing it.

"Here it comes!" A stormtrooper yelled from outside the office before a flurry of blaster fire erupted.

The commander loaded the rifle, overturned his desk, and readied himself as his men quickly met their gruesome fates outside. Finally, the last surviving thug ran inside, closed the door, and breathed a sigh of relief as he rested his back against the door. The commander recognized him as the one who he had tasked with leading a raid on Boris Key's hideout.

"Well? Did you get it?" The cowardly imperial asked in the least fearful voice he could muster.

The thug raised his head to say something but failed to do anything but scream his last sound as four blueish purple blades came straight through the door and impaled him. The commander ducked under his desk while Jek cut a circle in the door. The mass of the door within the circle suddenly became airborne and flew through the window behind the commander. Jek stepped into the office and aimed his repeaters for the mechanical droids and the com system uplink. Now was the coward's time to strike. He jumped out from behind his desk and opened fire on Jek.

"Die! Separatist trash!" He yelled while furiously pulling the trigger.

Jek recoiled with every impact from the high-powered rifle and eventually fell over. The commander kept firing until the rifle jammed, as it was an extremely old weapon. The Imperial slowly approach the fallen droid with the stock of the rifle ready as a melee weapon. He reached the main body of the droid and tapped it a couple of times with the rifle stock. When Jek did not move, he too breathed a sigh of relief and let his guard down. The droid suddenly grabbed his ankle and tossed him to the ground. The commander barely had enough time to avoid move his head before Jek was on top of him. The droid punched him in the gut, shattering some ribs, before grabbing him by the throat and carrying him to the broken window.

Jek raised the coward and held him out the window, as the entire town stood watching.

"You'll pay for crimes!" Jek yelled.

The commander realized that the people were not cheering, at least not yet. "Then go ahead and do it! Drop me! Prove to everyone, that despite your 'good intentions' you're still a killing machine!"

Leena ran in the room, blasted the two mechanical droids and the com system uplink, and turned to Jek, "Hey, he lost. All his troops and thugs are dead. He has no power left. You don't need to kill him."

"Oh, but that means Boris would go unavenged." The commander said with a grin.

Jek hated his man. Everything he had learned was telling him to let go, and watch him fall. His code, his morals, even the mission his creator tasked to him. Everything had lead up to this, everything pointed toward this solution. The one thing, the only thing that held him back was his past as a separatist. Jek's original purpose held him back. He was built to kill. Kill anyone that stood in opposition to the Separatist ideology. Jek would not go back to that.

Jek tossed the commander onto the floor, next to Leena. The crowd outside cheered. The commander tried to reach for his rifle but Leena stepped on it.

"Don't even think about it," Leena said coldly.

Jek walked over to Leena, "Make sure he never sees the sun again."

She laughed a little, "How about you do it. You're the hero after all."

"No. If I stay here, I will put you and everyone at risk. I have to go. I have to finish my mission and bring the whole empire down. I have to make sure they can't hurt any more innocent people." Jek said.

The commander started laughing, "And where will you go? We are everywhere. The second anyone finds out what you are, we'll destroy you."

Jek saw the commander's speech on the ground, fallen off his desk. He focused on one word.

"Then I'll join the Rebellion," Jek said before Leena kicked the commander in the face, incapacitating him.

"Take care of yourself, Jek." She said, knowing she could not stop him.

"You too. After all, this town is going to need a leader." Jek said before walking down the hall toward the turbo lift.

"Don't be a stranger!" Leena yelled after him.

Jek waved as the doors of the turbo lift closed. He slipped out the back of the building and eventually to the gate of the town. He stopped at the gate of Joankert and took one last look at the scorch marks on the side.

"I promise, I won't stop until the empire is dead," Jek said before walking out of the town and into the desert.

Jek kept walking across the desert. Every step was alive and with purpose. Every action guided by a renewed drive to do good, protect the innocent and be better than his old self. He felt remorse for every life he ever took, evil or not. As he saw what looked like a ship in the distance, he felt some amount of fear for the future. However, he finally realized something. He could feel. Feel emotion. Moreover, as long as he could do that, he could help bring the empire down.

**Q and A:**

**Guest: Will SC-43's backstory be shown in the backstory chapters? If not, when?**

**Answer: Sorry but SC-43 will not be getting a backstory in this set of chapters, aside from what we saw of him in Zack's story. His backstory will be shown later in the story. **

**Guest: Is Star Killer from The Force Unleashed going to be in this?**

**Answer: He exists with this story, yes. However, I probably will not ever do anything with him other than a reference or two.**


	4. Origins (Part 3)

**(Hey Everyone! The speed at which I got this chapter out will be a rarity as I just want the intro chapters done and over with. Shout out to keybladelight who somehow managed to post a review on Origins (Part 2) literally 5 minutes after I published it, you are a legend my guy. Please leave a review, good or bad it helps.)**

**(I do not own Star Wars or RWBY, just my OCs.)**

…

Anteevy: 16 BBY

The Lambda Class Imperial shuttle soared through the lush blue skies of Anteevy.

Once a war torn and brutal world, the Anteevy now stood as proof of modern terraforming technology. The planet sported long fields of brilliant purple grass, perpetually waving in the calming breeze. The rock formations were a baby yellow, and popular among many climbers due to their grand snowy peaks. It sported many rich and undisturbed rain forests and jungles. The ocean's beauty put all other features to shame though, as it presented a crystal clear and yet deep blue water. The local fauna included very few predators and an abundance of tame and docile species.

Inside the imperial shuttle sat the legendary Drake Shilo, clad in his obsidian black Mandalorian armor. His helmet brandished a bright red visor, and his wrist gauntlets concealed a flamethrower, grappling line, electromagnetic wrist blade, and whistling bird launcher. In his holsters rested two Mandalorian blaster pistols, equipped with collapsible red dot and laser sights. His jet pack was also a pitch black, as was fitting for a member of his house, and sported side thrusters and flares. All around, he was not a person you wanted to mess with.

For the galaxy, the clone war ended more than three years prior. For Drake, the second he stepped off this ship would mark victory. Drake was no clone. He had fought in the clone war as a shock trooper for the republic. He was so efficient at what he did that his superiors had begged him to stay around to deal with remaining droid cells. And deal with them he had. Now he was looking forward to finally going home to his father and younger brother. House Shilo was one of the most powerful and formidable clans among Mandalorians, once comparable in strength to house Visla and house Wren.

Drake was the heir to it all. His father was the head of house Shilo, and the greatest role model Drake ever had. His biggest regret about leaving to fight the clone war was having to leave his father. Not to mention that in his years of fighting, Drake failed to even maintain contact with his father. His brother inspired a different mindset though. During their childhood, Drake and Hector were less brothers than they were rivals. Though Drake always tried his best to be an excellent elder brother, Hector did his absolute best to perturb, needle, belittle, and show him up at every turn. Still, Drake had hope that their years apart would change things.

The shuttle rocked a bit when it entered the stratosphere. Drake looked up from the picture he held in his hands, dawned his helmet, and entered the cockpit. The two rookie pilots seemed shocked when he entered the room.

"Sir!" The copilot yelled before throwing a salute.

"At ease. Just checking in. What's our ETA?" Drake asked.

The young copilot returned to her station, "About 20 minutes sir."

Drake leaned against the wall as he viewed his home planet for the first time in years.

"Sir, is it true that you fought in the second battle of Geonosis?" The pilot asked eagerly.

"Kid… Every rumor and story you have ever heard is probably true." Drake said.

The copilot again turned her head toward him, "How can you be so sure?"

"Because all the rumors and stories combined don't tell the half of what I did." Drake said.

The two pilots looked at each other in awe.

"So... You're leaving the military?" The main pilot asked.

"Yep. I've fought my war. Done my part. Now it's time to reconnect with family." Drake said. "You two seem pretty young. When did you two enlist?"

"Little over a year ago." The main pilot answered.

"We entered service together." The copilot said.

"This is our first real assignment actually." The main pilot said.

"What are your names?" Drake asked.

"BK-6745 and BK-6746." The copilot said.

"Not your designation. I mean you're real names." Drake said.

The two looked at each other a bit bewildered.

"Nobody ever asks our names." The copilot finally answered.

Drake sighed, "That's one of the reasons why I'm leaving. It's this new Imperial command structure. Back in the war, I knew the names of every soldier under my command by heart. It's not just a practical thing, it's leadership method. You respect someone more when they call you by your own name rather than a designation they give you to make it easier on themselves. These days nobody actually cares about the people under their charge, just their own careers. There is no heart and soul of the military now, no comradery. Just designations that everyone hides behind, keeping them separated from each other. I refuse to function in that environment."

There was a long pause in the cockpit before the pilot finally spoke up.

"Johnathan Clutch." He said.

Drake looked over to him confused

"My name, its Johnathan Clutch." The pilot said.

"And I'm Keira Zander." The copilot said.

Before Drake could respond, a dial on the control panel started flashing.

"Looks like we're getting close." Johnathan said before returning to his station.

"Beginning decent." Keira said.

Drake expected the first thing he saw to be his village. The humble abode of house Shilo. What he and the crew saw first, though, were several large pillars of smoke.

"What the?" Keira asked as she looked at the scanners.

"What is it?" Drake asked.

"There are Imperial walkers down there." Keira said.

"That can't be right. This is a zero clearance zone to all Imperial vehicles without specific clearance." Drake said, remembering his father's deal with the republic to keep them out of house Shilo's land.

"The scanners must be malfunctioning." Johnathan theorized.

The com system suddenly flared up, "Shuttle 356, this is Imperial Special Forces commander Kippler, alter course to the north eastern flats immediately."

"Negative commander, we have orders to land in the village." Johnathan said.

"I repeat, alter course to the north eastern flats immediately." Kippler said.

"I'm not doing that sir. I have direct orders from…" Johnathan was cut off.

"I don't care who you got your orders from, pilot. If you put that ship down in the village, you will be fired upon!" Kippler yelled.

"Fired upon?" Drake asked in shock before hitting the com panel again. "To whatever pion commander is down there giving my pilot a hard time, I'll have you know that this shuttle is caring a priority one cargo with direct orders from Admiral Wullf Yularen himself. Failure to comply with those orders will result in court martial. Do I make myself clear, commander?"

"Who is this?" The commander asked in a snappy tone.

Drake threw his hands in the air at this officer's audacity.

"This is Sargent Major Drake Shilo of the Imperial Army." Drake said.

An awkward silence took hold of the com channel.

"Shuttle 356; precede to your designated landing zone." Kippler said.

Drake took his hand off the com button, "My point prior point exactly."

Keira and Johnathan nodded in both shock and gratitude for Drake's preservation of possibly both their careers and lives. Drake however, was faced with the horrible sight of his village burning to the ground and Imperial walkers marching through the debris. The shuttle landed, and the ramp dropped as Drake stepped out into his burning village.

An Imperial commander, likely Kippler, walked over to Drake smugly. He started to say something but was stopped by Drake punching him in the face. The smug commander fell to the ground and reached for his side arm but Drake stomped on his elbow, snapping the bone. The commander screamed in pain as Drake pulled one of his pistols and aimed it at the commander's head.

"Bastard!" Drake yelled.

"Drake!" A familiar voice yelled. "Put the gun down."

Drake looked to his side and breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of his brother.

"Hector, would you mind explaining to me why our home is on fire? And why these Imperials are in clear violation of our father's territorial pact?" Drake yelled.

"Nice to see you too." Hector said sarcastically.

"Could you give me an answer?" Drake said, "Before I assume we're under attack and blow this dirt bag's head off."

"It's a long story." Hector said.

"I've got time." Drake said a bit enraged.

"Just let him go. They're here because of me." Hector said.

Drake's mask concealed the fact that his skin turned a deathly pale.

"What have you done?" Drake asked ominously.

"You better come this way, there's a command post set up not far from here." Hector said.

Drake shot the commander's side arm and then followed his brother. They came to the city limits, where a command post had indeed been erected. Drake stepped inside and followed Hector into a command type room.

"What happened? And more importantly, where are our father and people?" Drake asked.

Hector sighed and took off his helmet, one nearly identical to Drake's. His face furnished pale skin, short blond hair, blue eyes, and a scattered freckle or two.

"After you left, father took to becoming an outspoken supporter of not only the republic war effort but the Jedi especially. We had a good many visit us, including but not limited to Adie Lorraine, Lie Kyron, Rahm Kota, Anakin Skywalker, Jika Kijjia, and Obi Wan Kenobi. I assume you've heard of them?" Hector asked.

"All Generals before order 66. Kenobi, Kota, and Kijjia survived but the other three didn't." Drake said.

"Real shame about Skywalker. I liked the guy. What the army tell you about his death?" Hector asked.

"Died defending children in the Coruscant temple. What's your point?" Drake asked unenthusiastically.

"My point is that father welcomed them with open arms, every time. And…" Hector trailed off.

"And what?" Drake pressed.

"And he got old Drake. His mind got cloudy. He started making rash decisions." Hector said.

"You're not going where I think you're going?" Drake asked.

Hector paused, "I think I am."

"Just… Tell me the whole story. Exactly what happened?" Drake said.

"Father… Took a Jedi in after order 66." Hector said.

"You didn't!" Drake yelled.

"Just let me finish! You might understand after I'm done!" Hector said.

"This Jedi better of been the most corrupt and evil being in the universe, if this is going where I think it's going!" Drake yelled.

"For a while, everything was fine. We concealed her presence, and provided for her. However, she took advantage of Father's weakened mental state. Started filling his head with delusions of using our warriors to overthrow the empire! Eventually there was a confrontation. I finally grew the guts to call her out on what she was doing. I made good arguments and points but she was blinded by the idea of revenge and she had Father's ear to herself." Hector said.

"So you betrayed our Father to the empire." Drake said.

"It wasn't like that Drake. I did not do it out of spite or hate, not even for the Jedi! Nevertheless, it was her or us. If her plan had worked, the empire would have crushed us. So I did what I had to do, for our people." Hector said as tears formed in his eyes.

Drake sighed and rested his back against the wall, "And when the empire came?"

"She lost it! Called both me and Father traitors, and tried to kill us! I did all I could to stop her, Drake, I swear!" Hector said, now crying.

Drake fought a tear back himself, "I need to hear you say it."

Hector composed himself for a couple seconds, "She… Killed him! And she would have killed me too if not for the empire showing up!"

Drake was unable to do anything before another officer walked in.

"Hector, we uncovered a data pad within the Jedi's residence. I has suspicious messages on it, possibly indicating that she contacted your brother." The officer said.

Drake learned how to read people during the war, and this officer obviously had some connection to the command whose arm he broke just minutes before.

"Pal, you can check with Admiral Yularen. He will tell you that I was onboard his ship for the entire length of time between order 66 and now. Moreover, he will tell you that no unauthorized and unscreened communications came through his ship." Drake said.

"That won't be necessary Sargent Major. I am afraid that matters of circumstantial evidence are enough to warrant an arrest when it comes to collusion with Jedi." The officer said.

"Hold on a minute. You wouldn't have even found that Jedi without me, and now you're going to arrest my brother over it?" Hector asked in shock.

"It's fine Hector." Drake said before turning to the officer.

"We both know that evidence is planted. But I'll spare you the trouble anyways." Drake said as he held out his wrists. "I'm done fighting."

The officer clearly expected a fight, as several scout troopers entered the room with stun batons ready. The officer placed cuffs of Drakes hands and the soldiers lead him out of the room. Drake walked for several miles before finally ending up in some kind of makeshift prison ship. The guards placed him in a holding cell and left as the door to the corridor closed.

Upon entry to the ship, they searched Drake and removed most of his gear. His armor, minus his helmet, remained with him but nothing else. Drake sat in a standard seven by seven-cubical cell. The door was little more than reinforced metal bars. The cell itself contained a bed, a toilet, and a sink. The door mirrored another identical cell, just across the walkway. The door to the cellblock was solid and located at the end of the corridor. Eight cells resided within the cellblock. Drake was located in the cell closest to the door, on the left.

"Who's there?" An elderly man called out from the very back of the cellblock.

Drake rushed to the bars of his cell and saw a dehydrated old man resting next to the bars of his cell.

"Achilles?" Drake called with suspicion.

"Drake!" The old man lit up.

"Why are you in there? Under these conditions no the less?" Drake asked.

"I take it you just got here?" Achilles asked.

"Yeah. What a mess too." Drake said.

"You obviously don't know the half of it." Achilles said.

"What do you mean? Hector already told me what transpired." Drake asked.

"Hector told you!" Achilles yelled, laughing hard. "That traitor is the reason we're in here!"

"What are you talking about?" Drake asked.

"Let me hear your brother's version of the story before I tell you the truth. I want to savor destroying every one of his talking points." Achilles said.

Drake carefully repeated Hector's story to Achilles.

"Ha! Is that all of it?" Achilles asked.

"As much as he told me." Drake said.

"Well, let's get the facts straight then. Your father did take in a Jedi and his mental awareness did begin to decline. That is about all of your brother's story that is true. What really happened though is that Hector became power hungry." Achilles began.

"Explain." Drake said.

"You were off fighting a war. Moreover, the only thing between your father and complete mental failure was the Jedi, who frequently used the force to balance his mind. Your brother wanted total control over our house, so he tried to set the Jedi up as manipulating your father. He failed, only because we all saw his dirty trick for what it was and sided with your father. Hector now only had one way to become chief. Murder his own father, and report the Jedi to the empire." Achilles said.

"Hector killed…" Drake was so deep in shock that he could not even say it.

"Go on and say it! It is the truth after all. Hector got himself alone with your father, and stabbed him to death. The Jedi sensed his death through the force and rushed to his aid. She furiously attacked your brother, along with many of our best warriors. They cornered him, like a rat. But then the empire came, bring him." Achilles said.

"Him?" Drake asked.

"The one they call Vader." Achilles said. "All of our finest warriors and the Jedi herself were no match for him. That evil being slayed them all mercilessly. However, he did not stop with them; he continued his rampage, slaughtering everyone in his path. Man, Woman, Child, they all fell to his red blade." Achilles said disdainfully.

"What about the walkers? The troops?" Drake asked.

"All merely clean-up crews. Vader slaughtered nearly everyone. I… Was among the blessed few to escape his wrath." Achilles said.

"And Hector?" Drake asked.

"After witnessing what he brought to our people, such abundant death and sorrow, he felt content to remain alive." Achilles said.

Drake sunk to his knees. His home, people, family, and honor were all gone. All because of his traitorous brother.

"I'm going to kill him." Drake said.

"Don't sink to his level Drake. Escape while you can and do not look back! You'll be better off for it." Achilles warned.

"And leave my father's murder unavenged! Not to mention the slaughter of his sole care giver and my entire house?" Drake yelled.

"That path will only lead to your destruction!" Achilles yelled. "You didn't witness what I did, Drake. You cannot defeat the kind of people they have on their side. There are some… Things, which you do not make enemies of! The empire is one of them." Achilles said.

Drake shot a stark look to Achilles, "My father has been murdered! My family has betrayed me! My people have been massacred! The honor of my house has been stolen! I refuse to merely cower away into obscurity, as my traitorous brother is content to do! I will avenge my father! Avenge my people! Avenge my honor! Avenge the Jedi who cared for my dying father rather than hiding and protecting herself! And bring justice upon Hector!" Drake screamed.

"You will not survive." Achilles said.

The door to the cellblock opened and two familiar faces stepped inside.

"Not alone." Johnathan said as Keira unlocked Drake and Achilles' cells.

"What are you two doing? You could be killed if they found you two here!" Drake scolded.

"Sir, we all heard stories in basic training about the heroic things you and the Jedi did." Keira said.

"You risked your lives standing up to an evil, oppressive regime." Johnathan said.

"Well, after we heard from some scout troopers what happened to your people, we decided it's our turn to do the same." Keira said.

"How did you two know what we were talking about?" Achilles asked.

"These doors aren't exactly sound proof." Johnathan said.

"So what's the plan?" Keira asked.

"You broke in here, without a plan?" Drake asked.

"Well, we figured that you would patch that detail." Johnathan said.

"Alright then, do you two still have access to that shuttle?" Drake asked.

"Yes." Keira said.

"Good, it's going to be our ticket out of here." Drake said. "Achilles, how many others are aboard this ship?"

"The surviving women and children are a deck below us. However, there are not many." Achilles said.

"You three go free them. I am going to get my gear, and blow something up. When the chaos starts, make a break for the shuttle." Drake instructed.

"What about you?" Achilles said.

"I'll link up with you after I end that murderous traitor." Drake said before taking off down the corridor.

Drake stopped when he neared the customs booth of the ship. A storm trooper slowly crept closer to the end of the hallway. As he passed Drake's hiding spot, the Mandalorian grabbed him, snapped his neck, grabbed his E-11 blaster rifle, and pulled the body into cover. A second storm trooper decided to investigate where his counterpart had gone, and met a similar fate. Drake now possessed two E-11 blaster rifles. Moreover, two storm troopers and two custodian officers stood between himself and his gear. He slowly approached the two guard at the door, and when close enough, blasted them.

The two bodies felt to the floor. Both with a hole directly in the middle of their visor. The two custodian officers heard the shots and rushed over to the counter to see what happened. They looked over the counter and saw the bodies, simultaneously failing to notice Drake sneaking up behind them. Once in rang, Drake tackled the two over the counter. He landed with his shoulder pressed against one's neck, breaking it instantly. The other tried to reach the alarm button, but received a blaster bolt in the head.

Drake tossed the two blasters to the side and entered the custom's room. He quickly found his gear, rearmed himself, and turned to leave. As he walked out the door, he quickly shot his head to the side after something caught his eye. That something turned out to be a bandolier of thermal imploaders. Drake snatched the bandolier and threw it over his shoulder. He then raced to the hangar bay.

Inside the hangar were several Tie Fighters and an AT-ST, all viable means of escape. However, Drake knew better than to steal something so big and conspicuous. He knew the Imperials would be after in him in numbers if he tried that. Rather, he snuck over to a scout trooper working on her speeder bike. Drake threw a wrench to her side, distracting her, while he snuck up behind and broke her neck. He carefully and quietly set the body in a position that looked like she was searcher a toolbox. He then mounted the speeder and cautiously exited the hanger, which thankfully sat at ground level. Once outside, Drake kicked the bike into full gear and speed off toward the command post.

Once he reached the command post, Drake quickly disposed of the guards and entered the building. He went room by room, killing every imperial inside, searching for his brother. Finally, he arrived at the officer type room from before. Inside sat an officer whose arm rested in a sling.

"Ah! Hector. I'm pleased to inform you that the empire has officially run out of use for you and your brother." Kippler said, expecting a pair of storm troopers to come through the door and arrest the Mandalorian.

When they did not come, Kippler started to sweat.

Drake pulled and raised one of his blaster pistols, "I'm not Hector." Drake said before blasting Kippler in the head.

Drake tossed the body out of his way before looking through Hector's personal desk. He found a note saying that there would be a meeting at the city square to discuss the fate of the survivors. Drake looked out the window and saw a nearby AT-AT walker, as he suddenly formulated an idea. He dropped a thermal imploader under Hector's desk before running outside the command base.

He barely made it through the door before the entire building exploded. Drake recovered and ran for cover before multiple squads of storm troopers showed up to assess the situation. In the panic, Drake managed to slip away to the base of the AT-AT. Once nobody possessed a clear line of sight on him, Drake used his Jetpack and flew up to the walker's neck. He armed one of the imploaders and tossed the bandolier onto the neck, before jet packing back to the ground.

The second Drake returned to his prior hiding spot, the walker's neck imploaded and the body fell to its side. The mass of falling metal crushed an infantry transport and several storm troopers, adding to the confusion and chaos. Drake overheard an officer shout to a storm trooper.

"Get the commanders and the Mandalorian to a shuttle!"

Now Drake could exact justice. This he fully intended as he snuck off toward the town square.

Meanwhile, Keira, Jonathan, and Achilles had rescued the survivors. Jonathan managed to acquire an infantry transport under the false claim that they were transporting the survivors back to the town square for execution. Now they were waiting for the 'chaos' Drake promised in an ally way that lead to their shuttle.

"Where is he?" Keira asked aloud.

"Probably just looking for a target that would hurt the empire." Achilles said. "I have faith in him."

An explosion rang out from the command center.

"Speak of the devil!" Jonathan said enthusiastically.

"Come on everyone! Keep your heads down and follow us!" Keira said as the group began moving toward the ship.

Just as they exited the ally way, the same officer that arrested Drake stepped in front of them with four storm troopers.

"Going somewhere?" He said smugly.

The storm troopers raised their blasters as the whole group, minus Achilles, raised their hands.

"BK-6745 and BK-6746, you are under arrest for treason. As for the rest of you… You are all escaped convicts." The officer said.

The storm troopers turned their blaster toward the group of about 30 women and children.

"And you will be treated as such." The commander said as the storm troopers prepared to fire.

"No! Stop!" Keira said before hoping in the line of fire.

The officer raised his side arm and stunned Keira. Jonathan caught her as she fell unconscious.

"Pitiful." The officer said as he disdainfully looked at the two traitors. "Now, where were we…?"

Achilles raised his cane and smacked the pistol out of the officer's hand. The storm troopers turned toward Achilles to kill him but the old man proved faster. Slashed the rightmost trooper against the wall and hooked another's blaster, making him shoot the other two. He then bashed the remaining trooper in the visor with his cane, knocking him out cold. The officer tried to punch Achilles, but Jonathan grabbed his fallen pistol and shot the man twice with it. The group all cheered as Achilles helped Jonathan up.

"Where in the galaxy did you learn to do that?" Jonathan asked.

"I may be old. But I'm still captain of Shilo royal guard." Achilles said.

Jonathan tossed the pistol away and picked Keira up. The group entered the shuttle just as another explosion sounded off. Jonathan set his partner and friend down in a seat before entering the cockpit. He sat in the pilot seat and began powering up the ship. Achilles walked into the cockpit.

"Does this ship have weapon systems?" Achilles asked.

"Yes, but they're all controlled from the copilot station. I don't have access to them." Jonathan said while running through the startup procedures.

"We'll probably need them to pick up Drake. How do I man them?" Achilles said.

"Sorry, but it takes a while to learn this stuff. I can't teach it to you in a couple minutes." Jonathan said.

"I can do it." A teenaged boy said from the cockpit entrance.

Achilles looked behind him and saw the boy. He had jet-black hair, blue eyes and light tan skin.

"I learned the basics at an Imperial summer program." He said.

Jonathan looked at the boy and then to the controls, "Well, you're all we've got."

The boy jumped into the seat and powered up the copilot consul.

Meanwhile in town square, Hector and the other Imperial commanders were being evacuated to another shuttle. Hector stopped before boarding, realizing something odd about the two explosions. He jumped away from the shuttle just as it, and everyone inside it, exploded. He struggled to his feet to see Drake standing not 20 feet away with a rocket launcher.

"You said you were done fighting!" Hector yelled.

"You said the Jedi killed our father." Drake said.

Hector sighed, "Who told you?"

"Achilles. And I'm sure that everyone else the Empire spared would agree with his account." Drake said before dropping the launcher.

"Drake, listen to me, I didn't know they would send that Vader guy! I was only trying to protect our people!" Hector pleaded.

"And how'd that go over!" Drake yelled as he motioned to their burning surroundings. "Besides, you only ever wanted power! And Father just an obstacle, no you removed him."

Hector dropped his hands, "Then I guess one of us has to die."

Drake nodded.

"Alright then. No blasters, no gadgets. We do this with honor." Hector said.

"With honor." Drake said as he dropped his wrist gauntlets.

The two entered a fighting stance, ready to dual. Brother against brother. Mandalorian against Mandalorian. Shilo against Shilo. For all their similarities and shared titles, they could not be more different, more diametrically opposed.

Hector threw the first blow, a jab at Drake's head. Drake swung to his right, shoving the punch away and returning with a knee strike to Hector's gut. Hector recoiled, spun around, and landed a hook kick on Drake's face. Drake used the momentum Hector gave him to spin and return with a sidekick to the face. Drake gave no rest, he followed the blow with a roundhouse and a cross punch. Hector grabbed Drake's head and slammed it down on a knee strike. As Drake recoiled, he nailed Hector with a double uppercut.

As the two fought, an Imperial sniper team set up on a nearby rooftop.

"They both look the same." The sniper said to her spotter.

"Just wait, we'll let them fight it out and then kill the winner." The spotter said.

Drake dropped a hard axe kick on Hector's shoulder. Hector used the downward motion of his left shoulder to fuel the cross he was throwing with his right. The punch connected, and Drake stepped back a pace to recover.

"You only ever cared for what father wanted! You never batted an eye to our people! Much less listened to me when I asked you not to enlist!" Hector shouted.

"That's not true! I cared just as much for every person here as I did father! And I did contemplate not enlisting, for your sake!" Drake said before punching Hector again.

"And does that change the fact that you left me as the one who was supposed to take over from father when he passed? Do you think I wanted to kill him? Do you think I wanted to report the Jedi? NO! I did it because it would have a thousand times worse if the empire found out. There would not be anyone left! Not even you!" Hector yelled.

"And that justifies everything you've done?" Drake asked.

"No! But at least I did more than the coward who abandoned his family to become a war hero." Hector shouted.

Drake sighed, "You're right. I did up and leave. And I should have been here for you and father. But that doesn't change what you did! I will NEVER forgive you for that!" Drake said as Hector began to charge him.

Drake took a step back, drew his pistol, and fired. Hector fell to his knees before looking and seeing the hole in his heart.

"You… The honor?" Hector asked.

"You betrayed any honor, when you betrayed your family." Drake said as he knelt down to his dying brother.

"Now!" The spotter yelled as his partner took her shot.

With his dying breath, Hector jumped in front of the blast that would have killed Drake.

"No!" Drake yelled.

He dodged a second shot as he grabbed Hector's body and ran for cover. Drake held his dead brother as a flood light opened on the sniper's position. Drake broke down in tears while the shuttle blasted the sniper nest to pieces. The ramp dropped and Achilles called out to his apprentice and friend.

"Drake! We have to go! NOW!"

Drake carried his brother to the shuttle. The ramp closed as a woman called out to Jonathan in the cockpit.

"He's inside!"

"Roger! Let's get out of here!" Jonathan said as the ship boosted away. "Good shooting kid."

"Thanks." The teen said.

"Hey, what's your name?" Jonathan asked.

"Tom Dameron." The teen said.

"I have a feeling you're going to go far Tom." Jonathan said.

In the back, everyone held their own opinions and feeling back while Drake closed his brother's eyes.

"I betrayed him. And he saved my life." Drake said on his knees. "And the worst part is that I still hate him."

"I don't expect you to feel remorse now, Drake. But maybe, someday, you can learn to forgive him." Achilles said.

Ord Radama, 4 years later:

Drake entered a rather large bar, filled to the brim with some sketch looking people. Behind him entered Tom, Achilles, Jonathan, and Keira who was holding her and Jonathan's young son.

"Find a table. I'll get the lay of the land." Drake said before walking up to the counter.

"Hey." Drake motioned to the bar tender.

The Quarren man walked over to him.

"How long until this thing starts?" Drake quietly asked.

"Don't know. We're still waiting for the guy running it." The bartender said.

Drake nodded and made a hand motion to Jonathan, who nodded his head. Drake then found a seat at the bar. He ordered a drink and took careful notice of the person sitting next to him. The figure was quiet large, and well concealed in a cloak. That is, to anyone but Drake.

"Got to say, I didn't think I'd ever see a battle droid again." Drake said.

The figure turned to him in shock, "How'd you know?"

"I spent a percentage of my life wrecking you guys." Drake said. "Although, it feels nice to meet another clone wars vet. Even if you were on the other side."

"The feeling is not mutual." The droid said making Drake chuckle a bit.

"Don't worry; I'm here for the same thing you are. Which, I guess, makes us allies." Drake said.

The droid looked at the ceiling, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Drake turned to the droid, "The recruitment thing."

"I know absolutely zero about it." The droid sarcastically said.

Drake laughed a bit, took a drink, and returned to the conversation. "Sorry, the name's Drake Shilo. Former Sargent Major in the Republic and Imperial military. Now sworn enemy of the latter."

"Jek." The droid said.

"What?" Drake asked.

"My name, its Jek." Jek said.

"You must have an adaptive personality module." Drake theorized.

"I do. How'd you know?" Jek asked.

"I met a B1 on a repair station that had a similar upgrade." Drake said.

Drake noticed that two men wearing brown cloaks entered the bar, flanked by a green and white BB unit. One looked to be about 16. The other was in his early 20s.

"Quite a crowd." Jek said.

"Yeah! Rebellion must be a popular thing these days." Drake said.

"So why are you joining?" Jek asked.

"I have score to settle with an Imperial called Vader. Not to mention, an adopted family to protect." Drake said. "How about you?"

"I made a promise to someone very important to me. I told him I wouldn't stop until I brought the whole Empire down. And I can't do it alone so…" Jek said.

Drake nodded. Just then, a whole squad of storm troopers entered the bar with an officer.

"May I have everyone's attention please?" The officer shouted.

"Oh this will be good." Drake said, motioning to the officer.

"We have received an anonymous tip that there may be an illegal gathering in progress somehow connected with General Rahm Kota. As such, every person here is under arrest until it can be determined who the actual rebels are." The officer said.

Drake took careful note of the two hooded figures briefly discussing something before dispersing to opposite ends of the room. A half-drunken man at a table behind him interrupted his train of thought by standing up and waving a blaster pistol in the general direction of the officer.

"Now listen here! Dirt sucking Imperial! You can't just barge in here and say everyone's under arrest just for a fictional connection to a Jedi!" The man shouted.

Drake leaned over to the man, "Actually they can."

"They can!" The man shouted in surprise.

The officer looked amused but still ordered the storm troopers to arrest the man. As they got close, the man pointed his blaster at the nearest.

"Come any closer and you'll be missing an eye!" The man threatened.

"This escalated quickly." Drake said.

"No kidding." Jek responded.

The storm troopers locked weapons on the man, and the lights went out.

The crowd went into sheer panic when a green blade ignited on one side of the room and two blue blades on the other. Red laser bolts erupted all throughout the room as the storm troopers were quickly and brutally cut down. Some onlookers managed to ascertain the general location of the remaining storm troopers and pulled their own weapons to aid the blade wielders. The lights turned back on to reveal the dismembered bodies of an entire Imperial squad. The two blade wielders stood back to back in the center of the room, ready for any more threats. The officer came out of hiding from behind an overturned table, holding a blaster to the head of Keira.

Drake drew both of his pistols and Jek powered up his repeaters.

"Everyone drop your weapons or I'll kill her!" The officer shouted.

One of the two people, now recognized as Jedi, looked at the table where Drake's party sat. Achilles lay on the ground, obviously beaten. Jonathan held his crying son while anxiously watching his wife. And Tom was holding a fallen storm trooper's rifle at the officer.

"NOW!" The officer yelled.

The Jedi looked at each other, and disengaged their blades. Seeing this, the rest of the bar slowly but surely dropped their weapons.

"Good, now just…" The officer made the fatal mistake of stepping away from the wall. His error was realized when the BB unit accompanying the Jedi used a cable to swing itself as a wrecking ball straight into the officer's head. The man fell like a ton of bricks as Keira ran to her husband and son.

The whole bar started clapping as the droid beeped happily and took a bow.

The Jedi who held the two blue lightsabers rushed over to Achilles' side, as did Drake.

"That officer plowed his way past him to grab Keira. I did everything I could…" Tom told Drake.

"You did all you could kid." Drake said.

The Jedi examined Achilles before placing his hand on the old man's back. The Jedi concentrated as a blue mist traveled down his arm and to Achilles. The old man winced for a second and then relaxed. The Jedi stood back up and turned to Drake.

"He's going to be fine." The hooded man said before joining his counterparts in the center of the room.

Both Jedi removed their hoods, revealing themselves to everyone in the bar.

"Hello everyone. Sorry we had to kick the evening off that way." The younger of the two said.

"As you all probably guessed, we represent General Kota and the Rebel Alliance." The older said.

"My name is Zack Raider; this is Galen Marek, and SC-43." Zack said.

"On behalf of General Kota, we would like to welcome you all to the Rebellion." Galen said.

**Q and A:**

**Before anyone asks: Yes, this concludes the origin chapters.**

**Keybladelight: ****When the Jedi survivor will take action on remnant?**

**Answer: One to two chapters, we are close **

**Favorite review from last chapter:**

**AkaDeca: ****I love Jek! I can honestly imagine General Grievous seeing him and saying, "Ah, the negotiator" after Jek spoke to the people. Can't wait for the next chapter!**


	5. The Journey Begins

**(Hey everyone! We are finally starting the main story! In the words of Anakin Skywalker, "This is where the fun begins." Thanks for all the support you guys have shown. Please leave a review, good or bad it helps.)**

**(I do not own Star Wars or RWBY, just my OCs.)**

…

Ventooine: 10 BBY

Zack sat on the floor of his quarters in a meditation position. His eyes were closed in pure concentration. Now at the age of 17, Zack possessed a respectable figure. He had Irish skin, vibrant blue eyes, and short but up kept brown hair. Now, tens of small metal and wood parts floated in the air before him. At the center of them all, a green Kyber crystal. One by one, they all methodically came together. Each tiny part with a place and purpose. At last, the two outer Kashyyykian wood pieces fit over the hilt. Zack reached out and grabbed his newly cleaned and rebuilt lightsaber.

Just then, a hollow transmitter started beeping. This spooked Zack, who ignited the blade and pointed it in the direction of the device. The lights of the room turned on and SC-43 rolled out from under a desk.

Zack smiled, "Don't even start."

The droid beeped something sarcastic making Zack chuckle. The young Jedi then retracted his blade and answered the holo com.

"Commander Raider here, what is it?" Zack said.

"General Kota needs you on the bridge, sir. He says it's urgent." The rebel com officer said.

"Tell him that I'm on my way," Zack said before ending the call.

SC-43 opened the door while Zack threw a rebellion jacket on. The two then proceeded out of the room. Almost instantly, they were moving on a catwalk with a view port. Zack looked out the window of the space station orbiting Ventooine. He saw several rebel ships including Nebulon-Bs, CR90s; stolen Arquitens class star destroyers, some Mon Calamari Star Cruisers, a couple of former Munificent-class star frigates, and even a stolen Interdictor class star destroyer. However, the centerpiece of the fleet undeniably fell to the Enduring Freedom. Master Rahm Kota's former Venator class star destroyer during the clone wars. Now the flagship of the Rebel Alliance and a symbol of hope throughout the Galaxy.

They finally reached the turbo lift and entered inside it.

SC-43 beeped inquisitively.

"I don't know buddy. It could be anything. Maybe another Inquisitor surfaced and he needs us to take them out." Zack theorized.

The doors of the lift opened and the two entered the bridge. The room they stepped into was wide and open; offering a 360-degree view of the station's surroundings due to it's being mostly glass. Rebel officers scurried around, going about their tasks. In the center of the room stood General Rahm Kota, Master Jika Kijjia, and an all too familiar clone commando.

"Niner! Long time no see!" Zack said as he approached the hollo table the three stood around.

"Same to you, kid." The clone said.

"Zack, I assume you remember master Kijjia?" Kota asked.

"Yes, we met on Fornax. She helped Galen and I kill an Inquisitor." Zack said.

"You've grown," Kijjia said.

"Yeah, everybody says that," Zack said.

"I hate to cut the reunion short, but we need to get this rolling," Niner said.

"Right," Kota said.

"Master, what's going on?" Zack asked Kota.

"Niner and the rest of Omega squad made a discovery on their latest mission." Kota started.

"We raided a cash that belonged to the Sixth Brother," Niner said.

"The Inquisitor that master Tano killed a while back?" Zack asked.

"Yes, and they acquired this," Kijjia said as Niner placed a Jedi Holocron on the table.

"A Holocron?" Zack asked. "Is one of Jocasta Nu's backups for the Jedi archive?"

"That's what we thought at first, but this one is much older," Kota said.

"After initial alloy dating, we placed it to be at least four thousand years old," Niner said.

"And its contents are both hopeful for our cause, as well as concerning," Kijjia said.

"What do you mean?" Zack asked.

Kijjia used the force and opened the Holocron. It revealed a massive star chart, with a hyperspace route leading billions of light-years into the unknown regions. The route finally terminated at a planet, identified as Remnant. Zack cocked his head a little when he read the name of that world.

"Remnant?" Zack asked aloud.

"Yes, Remnant. The mythical homeworld of the Jedi." Kota said.

"For centuries, it was written off as pure Legend. Only a short story for younglings. But this proves its existence." Kijjia said.

"And with its existence, the hope of an untapped Jedi army," Niner said.

"Just the thing we would need to finally overthrow the Emperor," Kota said.

Zack looked straight at Kota, "Wait, you want me to go find it? Don't you?"

"That's why we called you up here Zack," Kijjia said.

"Why not send Galen, Juno, and PROXY? After all, they're the most qualified for this task." Zack asked.

"I need Galen and Juno here, Zack. Besides, they still haven't returned from their mission to assassinate that Moff." Kota said.

"The longer we sit on this information, the greater the risk of the Sith learning about its existence," Niner said.

"Zack, you've progressed faster in your training than any Jedi before you. Besides, you've shown that you work well with Drake Shilo and Jek in stressful situations." Kijjia said.

"So you're sending Drake and Jek too?" Zack asked.

"Yes, and SC-43 as well," Kota said.

SC-43 beeped happily. He had not been off the station in months.

Zack reexamined the star chart.

"That's quite a distance. The only ship in the fleet with a hyperdrive fast enough to make this run in a reasonable amount of time is the Rogue Shadow. Maybe we should wait for Galen." Zack said.

"Actually, there's something I've been meaning to show you, Zack. Follow me." Kota said.

Zack and SC-43 followed Kota to the turbo lift and then the main hanger. When Zack stepped out of the turbo lift, he saw the usual upgraded LAAT gunship used by Omega Squad. There were some X-wings, Y-wings, Arc-17s, modified V-19 Torrents, LAAT gunships, and reprogramed Vulture Droids. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then Zack and SC-43 saw it. A white and orange recreation of the Rogue Shadow.

"Its name is the Comet. An exact duplicate of the Rogue Shadow. It has a 0.5 class hyperdrive and cloaking device. It's armed with four heavy laser cannons, a rear turret, homing torpedoes, anti-fighter missiles, and even a couple buzz droid pods. It's the empire's worst nightmare, and your team's new ship." Kota said.

Zack felt dumbfounded, "I don't know what to say?"

"Say yes. And then get your crew together. You leave as soon as the ship is prepped." Kota said.

Zack nodded, signaled to SC-43, and ran off to find his team. Little did he know how significant this mission would become.

Zack found the two in the station's cafeteria/bar, arm wrestling each other with tens of rebel soldiers all cheering them on. Most people cheering Drake on were humans and Twi'leks. Jek's fan base consisted of mostly rebel droids and commandos.

"You know, for a battle droid you're kind of weak." Drake said in an attempt to get in Jek's head.

"Who said that I'm actually trying?" Jek bluffed.

SC-43 swung himself onto the table via grabbling cable and pushed the match in Jek's favor.

"Hey! Knock it off!" Drake yelled as he tried to push SC-43 away.

"What? He's just helping a fellow droid out." Jek said in defense of the BB unit.

"Would you all knock it off? Before one of you goes to the mechanic or infirmary." Zack said

"Commander on deck!" One officer yelled.

The crowd noticed Zack and all struck a salute.

"At ease." Zack sighed.

"What is it? We get a mission or something?" Jek asked.

"In fact yes, we did. I need the two of you to gather up whatever gear you need for a possibly extended period of time and meet me in the hanger before 13:00 hours." Zack said.

"How extended are we talking?" Drake asked.

"A couple weeks, maybe more." Zack said.

"What kind of mission is this?" Jek asked.

"For now, it's top secret. I'll brief you once we're underway." Zack said.

"Alright then, meet you there." Jek said before getting up and walking out the door.

Drake got up and started walking but Zack stopped him.

"Hey, make sure you leave off on a good note with Achilles," Zack said.

"It's fine kid. He's recovering." Drake said.

"Drake. I took someone I really cared about for granted too. Don't make the same mistake." Zack warned.

Drake nodded and exited the room. He made his way back to his quarters. Upon entering, he quietly collected several essentials and gear pieces. He turned to leave, but stopped himself. Drake walked back into the living quarters and found Achilles laying on a medical bed.

"Going somewhere?" Achilles asked, after noticing the backpack Drake just put together.

"Yeah, and I might be gone for a while," Drake said. "I'll make sure Johnathan and Keira check in on you every day, and the medical staff too."

"Don't worry about me, Drake. It'll take more than a silly sickness to put me out for good." Achilles reassured his friend and apprentice.

Drake nodded and exited his quarters, knowing he would probably never see Achilles again.

Zack walked around the Comet's cockpit, inspecting the ship's every dial and instrument. SC-43 accessed a terminal and told Zack that the ship was ready for launch.

"Awesome buddy. As soon as Drake and Jek get on board, we'll get this show on the road." Zack said.

"You don't have to wait for me," Jek said as he entered the cockpit. "So, whose neck needs popping this week?"

"Actually we're going on more of an archeological mission," Zack said.

"Oh! So we're going to go find some old abandoned CIS or Republic ship, and then bring it back to the fleet?" Jek asked.

"Not exactly. Where we're going might have a significant number of ships to draw on for the fleet though." Zack said.

"Stop being cryptic!" Jek yelled as he sat in the co-pilot seat.

"Alright, I'm here," Drake said as he stepped aboard the ship. "Nice ship by the way."

"You're flying," Zack responded to Drake who then sat in the pilot seat.

SC-43 performed the final checks on the ship and readied it for launch.

"This is Comet to flight control; we're ready to take off," Zack said into a com-system.

"Acknowledged Comet, opening the hangar doors now. Good luck and happy hunting." The flight control officer said.

Drake took the Comet out of the hangar and into space. They soon escaped the bounds of the rebel fleet.

"Where to?" Drake asked.

"SC-43 is laying in coordinates now," Zack said.

Jek looked at the route laid before him. "This leads billions of light-years out into the unknown regions?"

"What's out there?" Drake asked.

"This route leads to a planet called Remnant. It's the supposed homeworld of the Jedi." Zack said.

The room fell silent.

"You mean we've been sent to find an ancient civilization that could turn the tide against the empire?" Drake asked.

"In essence, yes," Zack said. "That's assuming that the planet still exists and that it is still inhabited."

Drake typed some keys on the Navigational-computer and loaded the route.

"Then let's get a move on," Drake said as he made the jump to hyperspace.

Comet: Six hours later

Zack sat on the floor in the back of the ship half-asleep and half-meditating. He focused on the Holocron that Master Kota showed him in the command center.

"Where did you come from?" Zack asked himself as he thought about the relic.

Slowly, a vision started developing in his mind. Though blurry, it resembled a burning forest. However, the forest was not the only thing on fire. Zack barely made out something far off in the distance, a village engulfed in fire. A cold fear gripped him as he suddenly heard a voice calling out to him. It was the voice of a young girl, one whose voice Zack could never forget.

"Zack. Zack!" It called out.

"Zack!" Drake snapped the teenager out of the vision. "Good lord, you going deaf or something?"

"No, no. I just had a weird dream." Zack said.

"Well, nap time is over. We're approaching a hyperspace junction." Drake said.

"What's so important about a hyperspace junction?" Zack asked.

"This one is located over Teth," Drake said.

"Where have I heard that name before?" Zack asked aloud.

"It used to be a weapons testing ground for the Republic," Drake said.

"Are there any Imperial ships still there?" Zack asked.

"None that we've detected but then again, we're still in hyperspace," Drake said.

Zack stood up and followed Drake into the cockpit.

"ETA?" Zack asked.

"About a minute," Jek said.

"And we're sure that we have to drop out of hyperspace here?" Zack asked.

"That's the point of a hyperspace junction. The turn in the route here is too sharp for the Comet to make at this speed. Either we'll tear ourselves apart trying to make the turn or we'll get so far off course that we minus well turn around." Drake said.

"The worst part is that we can't engage the cloak at hyper-speed either," Jek said.

"Well let's make our visit to Teth as short as possible," Zack said.

"Dropping out of hyperspace now," Jek said.

The Comet slowed to sub-light speeds and appeared mere feet away from an Imperial battleship.

"Oh scrap!" Jek yelled as he banked the Comet into a hard right, avoiding a crash by about an inch.

"Move over!" Drake yelled as he assumed the pilot seat.

Zack looked at their surroundings. The Comet had stumbled into the middle of a considerably large Imperial fleet.

"SC-43, are the new coordinates laid in?" Drake asked.

The droid beeped in affirmation.

"Then let's get out of here!" Drake yelled.

Jek attempted to engage the hyperdrive, but it stalled out.

"What the?" Jek exclaimed.

"This is a brand new ship! The hyperdrive should work fine!" Drake yelled as he analyzed a system readout.

"I don't think the hyperdrive is the problem," Zack said as he pointed to an Interdictor class star destroyer.

"Oh, great! We're going to have blow that up before we can get out here." Jek said.

The ship rocked and Drake lost manual control.

"Tracker beam!" Zack yelled.

"Try engaging the cloak," Drake said to Jek.

"It's no good. They've already locked on to us." Jek said.

"The ship that's towing us is hailing," Drake said.

"Put it through, audio-only," Zack said.

"Unidentified craft, this is Captain Cromwell of the Ascendant Justice. Power down your shields and prepare to be boarded." The Captain said.

"Drake, this ship can mask its Identification tag if I'm not mistaken?" Zack asked.

"Yeah, one of the cloak's features," Drake said.

"Try masking it as an Imperial shuttle," Zack said.

"Done. But I doubt they're that stupid." Jek said.

"Then let's improve our chances. Drake, open the com again. Two-way channel audio only." Zack ordered.

Drake did as instructed.

"It's open," Drake said.

"This is rear admiral Banshee of the Imperial 19th fleet. I'm ordering you to power down your tracker beam and let my ship proceed on its mission!" Zack said, in his best officer voice.

Drake muted their end of the channel.

"Rear admiral Banshee?" Drake asked.

"I had to say something!" Zack said.

"Admiral! My apologies sir! We thought you might be a rebel vessel." Cromwell said.

"All you need to know about my mode of transportation, captain, is that Lord Vader himself assigned it to my command," Zack said.

A pause gripped the com channel.

"Not to question the authority of Lord Vader, sir, but what exactly is your mission?" Cromwell inquired.

"My mission is of none of your concern, captain," Zack said.

"My apologies admiral, but I will have to know your objective before I can release your ship from my care. In the meantime, I will send my garrison commander to meet you in the hanger." Cromwell said.

"And what might their name be? Just so that I can properly address him when we meet." Zack said as he waved his lightsaber hilt in the air, telling Jek and Drake to prepare for a fight.

"Commander Hex, of the Imperial Storm Trooper Corps," Cromwell said.

Zack froze upon hearing that name. The name of the clone who murdered his sister.

"Is there a problem sir?" Cromwell asked.

"No, just tell Hex to expect an old acquaintance," Zack said before ending the call.

"You know an Imperial on this ship?" Jek asked.

SC-43 let out a low growl.

"Let's just say, this is personal now," Zack said before priming his blaster pistol.

Ascendant Justice Hanger:

Hex strolled into the hanger followed by several guards. His days since the clone war were not exactly grand ones, especially for a clone who killed two Jedi. Nevertheless, his new post over Teth offered a relative level of safety and great pay. He strode over to the Comet's bay door, flanked by two lines of stormtroopers. He wore stormtrooper commander armor, with minor modifications to make it more comfortable. The door opened and the ramp dropped. Fog spilled out from inside the ship as a figure walked down the ramp concealed in the exhaust.

"Admiral Banshee, the captain sends his apologies for the disturbance. I've been ordered to escort you to the bridge so we can clear this misunderstanding up." Hex said.

"So that's what you call situations like this? Misunderstandings?" The figure asked in an oddly young voice.

"Sir?" Hex asked confused.

"Then answer me this one question, commander. Was killing an innocent eleven-year-old girl on Shiiak a misunderstanding?" The figure asked menacingly.

Hex took a few steps back and drew his pistol.

"Who the hell are you?" Hex demanded as the stormtroopers all raised their blasters.

"Someone you should have killed when you had the chance," Zack said before he ignited his lightsaber and his crew opened fire.

Hex watched in horror as his soldier fell dead in mere seconds from the sheer volley of fire from the Rebel ship. He jumped behind some crates while the sounds of his men dying via lightsaber filled the air. He thought he could run from his position without being seen, but Zack already knew where he hid.

The second Hex tried to move, he started levitating and gasping for air. His body turned to face a 17-year-old boy with an outstretched hand and familiar lightsaber.

"I've been waiting years to do this," Zack said before making the mistake of dropping Hex.

The clone hit the floor but used every ounce of strength he possessed to reach for a blaster. Zack raised his lightsaber to block any shots fired at him, but Hex instead shot a pressurized barrel next the boy. The airburst through Zack off a ways, giving Hex the chance to run for the hanger door. Drake took a couple of shots at the clone, but all missed.

Hex reached the door of the hanger and hit an alarm button, sending a ship-wide distress beacon.

"Oh great! Just great!" Drake yelled.

"SC-43, cloak the ship and wait on-board. You two, go take tactical engineering and use this ship's own guns to destroy the Interdictor." Zack said as he prepared to chase Hex.

"What about you?" Jek asked.

"I'm going after that clone traitor!" Zack shouted, giving chase to Hex.

Jek turned to Drake, "Should we bother trying to stop him?"

"There's no point. Just let him off that guy." Drake said before the pair headed for the tactical engineering deck.

Zack plowed his way through any stormtrooper and security droid that attempted to stop him. Eventually, he ran into an entire squad of stormtroopers. Zack sliced the lead troop in half and deflected several shots, redirecting them at the soldiers. He ran at and rebounded off the wall, landing in the center of the squad. Zack swung his lightsaber in a complete overhead 360 motion. The soldiers unlucky enough to be in his range lost their heads. Zack used the force to enhance a sidekick he threw at the nearest stormtrooper. The man's armor buckled and his corpse flew into several other troopers. Zack stabbed behind himself, impaling a scout trooper carrying a stun baton. Zack force pushed the remaining two troopers into the wall.

He continued his warpath into main engineering, where Hex waited with another full squad. Zack saw the squad but also took note of the large metal struts looming above them.

"Cut him down!" Hex ordered as the squad opened fire.

Zack dodged and deflected every shot thrown his way. He force pushed the stormtroopers into the center of the room, before dislodging the struts. Hex watched in abject horror as the metal beams crushed his soldiers. The clone grabbed another blaster and furiously opened fire on Zack. The Jedi in training easily defected every bolt, all the while nearing Hex.

"They were good soldiers! And you massacred them! Die Jedi trash!" Hex shouted.

Zack felt beyond enraged at this point, and force choked Hex again.

"You aren't innocent either," Zack said ominously as Hex squired for air.

"Who… are you?" Hex choked out.

"I'm the brother of the girl that you and your men murdered on Shiiak. My name is Zack Raider!" The Jedi yelled as he ignited his lightsaber, ready to decapitate Hex.

Suddenly the ship rocked, forcing Zack to drop Hex. A second jolt knocked them both off their feet. Hex recovered quicker and ran for the entrance.

"No!" Zack screamed as he fired his pistol at Hex.

The clone narrowly escaped and locked the door behind him.

A third impact rocked the ship, inspiring several circuits to blow around the main reactor.

"Jek and Drake, what in the galaxy did the two of you do?" Zack asked into his wrist com.

"Well… We destroyed the Interdictor." Jek started.

"Yeah, and someone didn't listen when I told him to use torpedoes rather than turbo lasers!" Drake said angrily.

"What happened?" Zack facepalmed.

"The fleet traced the origin of the shots and are trying to destroy the ship. The captains' ordered a full evacuation too." Drake said.

Another shot hit the ship and the reactor started heating up.

"Well, it won't last much longer. I think the reactor is going critical." Zack said.

"They must be targeting the main energy lines." Drake theorized.

"Get back to the Comet. I'll meet you there." Zack said before rushing over to the door.

He activated his lightsaber and began cutting through the door. Sparks and electrical overloads burst from the core after another jolt. Zack finished cutting a hole in the door, and force pushed the excess away. The stray metal crushed a security droid on the other side of the door. Zack used the force to enhance his speed while he ran back to the ship's hangar. Once he arrived, he saw Drake and Jek mowing down escaping imperials. A Tie fighter dropped from the ceiling and crushed several walkers. The resulting explosion took care of the remaining stormtroopers.

"All aboard!" Jek yelled as the Comet uncloaked.

The three rebels ran onboard the ship.

"SC-43, reengage the cloak!" Drake yelled while activating the pilot controls.

SC-43 beeped confidently and cloaked the Comet. The ship exited the hanger.

Surrounding Star Destroyers pummeled the Ascendant Justice with their main batteries. Mere seconds after they exited the hanger, the solar reactor turned critical. A massive explosion rocked the Ascendant Justice, tearing the vessel in two.

"I think we're home free," Drake said as the Comet neared the edge of the fleet.

The Comet rocked from laser impacts on its shields.

"Want to rethink that statement?" Jek asked.

"We're cloaked. How are they hitting us?" Zack asked in complete confusion.

"They must be tracking our magnetic signature. I've heard of technology capable of isolating this stuff." Drake said while taking evasive maneuvers.

"Can you mask it?" Zack asked.

"No, but we might be able to change it, mess with their sensors for a split second, and jump to hyperspace," Drake suggested.

"On it," Jek said.

Zack ran and staffed the rear turret, blasting at several pursuing Tie fighters. Out of five chasing, Zack destroyed four. The last broke its chase after losing its squadron but fired a homing missile in its place. Despite Zack's best efforts, the missile quickly gained on the Comet. The projectile sat nearly scraping the Comet when Jek successfully changed the magnetic signature.

"Done!" Jek yelled.

"Go to hyperspace!" Zack yelled from the back.

"Way ahead of you," Drake said as the ship jumped to light speed, now home free to the unknown regions.

Imperial Star Destroyer Bridge, Teth: 2 hours later

To say that captain Cromwell was ready to kill someone would be the understatement of the century. His ship, which he commanded for nearly six years, now sat as a flaming ball of wreckage drifting by the Teth fleet. Worse was the fact that they lost their Interdictor to a group of three rebels. Two ships, millions of credits, and his reputation had just been wasted.

Nevertheless, Cromwell possessed a rare trait among Imperial officers. The ability to keep calm and composed under incredibly bad circumstances and these were incredibly bad circumstances. So he resolved himself to take every action he could to salvage the situation.

He walked into the communications room of his host ship.

"Clear the room." He ordered calmly.

Even though not directly under his command, the present personnel knew better than to mess with him right now. As soon as the room cleared out, Cromwell began punching com information into the center hollo-table. He waited for around ten minutes before a figure appeared across the table to answer his call.

Though a hologram, Cromwell could tell certain features about this figure. She wore a black uniform and cape with dark gray armor. Her helmet vaguely resembled that of a Mandalorians, yet the protrusions on the side served to dismay that assumption. The weapon she carried on her side was not customary of the Inquisitorius but still looked intimidating.

"Who is this?" She asked.

"My apologies ma'am, I was attempting to make contact with the Twelfth Brother," Cromwell said as professionally as possible.

"The Twelfth Brother is occupied with a mission. I will take whatever message you have for him." She said.

"My name is Captain Kallar H. Cromwell. My ship, the Ascendant Justice, as well as the Interdictor class Star Destroyer assigned to the Teth fleet, were just destroyed by a group of three rebels. One of them made particularly effective use of a lightsaber." Cromwell said.

The figure cocked her head with intrigue, "And I assume they escaped?"

"Yes, ma'am. However, we hit their ship with a tracking missile before they escaped. They're currently moving far into the unknown regions." Cromwell said.

"Very good Captain. Please prepare a ship for an extended expedition into the unknown regions. You will be departing as soon as I arrive." The Fourth Sister said.

"Yes, ma'am. I believe I know the perfect ship as well." Cromwell said as he looked out a window at a prototype Resurgence class Star Destroyer.

* * *

**Q and A:**

**Before anyone asks: Yes, the Empire developed the original prototype for the Resurgence class. (Albeit much later than I am portraying this.)**

**DragonflyGaming: Does Jek's voice sound like the normal B2 Super Battle Droid or something different?**

**Answer: Similar to normal B2 but lighter. Less menacing.**

**Keybladelight: What color is Zack's lightsaber again?**

**Answer: Emerald Green, I did my best to describe it earlier in this chapter too.**


	6. Remnant at Last!

**(Hey everyone! We've finally arrived at Remnant; sorry it took so bloody long. As mentioned in questions before, for the majority of the rest of the coming chapters Galen, Achilles, Kota, Niner, and others will simply be referenced. I may bring them in for a final battle at some point but I have not decided yet. As always; please leave a review, good or bad it helps.)**

* * *

Teth: 4 hours later

A black shuttle made its final approach to the Resurgence. Its wings folded and the ship ominously landed in the main hangar. Cromwell and Hex stood directly in front of the shuttle, flanked by hundreds of storm troopers.

Coolant began venting as the ramp dropped, creating a chilling fog. Out of the mist stepped ten Purge Troopers. They took up position to the sides of Cromwell and Hex. Then, the Inquisitor herself disembarked the shuttle. Hex had only worked with an Inquisitor once, and it left him chilled to the bones. This one however, made everyone around her feel the same way.

"Captain, I assume the ship is ready to depart?" The Fourth Sister asked.

"Indeed ma'am. She's stocked up for two years out of port, carrying eight full battalions, several Tie squadrons, and enough armored vehicles to knock a city down." Cromwell said.

"Good. Have you traced the Rebel ship's course?" The Inquisitor followed up.

"Yes ma'am, the tracker cut out but we've approximated their destination." Hex said.

"Excellent, Captain let's get underway." The Fourth Sister commanded.

"Yes ma'am." Cromwell said before tapping his com-link. "Bridge, you are clear to depart."

The prototype star destroyer used its sub-light engines to escape the fleet before jumping to hyperspace.

In the meantime, Hex lead the Fourth Sister to her quarters.

"Here you are ma'am." Hex said.

The Fourth Sister inspected the room quickly.

"This will do nicely. Please give the captain my thanks." She said.

"Oh, one more thing ma'am." Hex said, catching the inquisitor's attention.

The clone handed her a datapad.

"I put this portfolio together on the Jedi. His name is Zack Raider, to my knowledge he's the only survivor of the Shiiak massacre during order 66." Hex said.

"If I am not mistaken Commander, you oversaw that attack." The inquisitor asked.

"Affirmative ma'am. I was under General Lie Kyron's command at the time. I actually did meet Zack face to face once, just before order 66." Hex recalled.

"Anything else I should know about this interaction?" The Inquisitor asked.

"Everything should be inside the portfolio, ma'am. However, I have my own speculation about the lightsaber he carried on the Ascendant Justice." Hex said.

"That being?" The Inquisitor asked.

"We never recovered General Lorraine's lightsaber. It was a unique color, emerald green. Well, the lightsaber he carried was the same color. Moreover, the hilt had Kashyyykian wood fit to it. Master Lorraine's lightsaber looked quite similar." Hex said.

"Interesting… Tell me, do you know what lightsaber form Master Lorraine used?" The Fourth Sister inquired.

"Yes ma'am, her personal style was a form six variation. Very effective against droids, and clones as we found out." Hex said, remembering how Aide Lorraine cut down the better part of his unit during order 66. "Why does that matter?"

"Because what I have found when dueling opponents with a fallen Jedi's lightsaber is that they tend toward the form of the former wielder of that lightsaber." The Fourth Sister said.

"Interesting." Hex said.

"Indeed. Thank you, Commander, this information will be very helpful." The Inquisitor said before entering her quarters.

Resurgence: 12 hours later

A purge trooper entered the Fourth Sister's quarters.

"What is it?" The Inquisitor asked.

"The captain has requested you on the bridge ma'am." The purge trooper said.

The Inquisitor nodded and made her way to the bridge. There she found Captain Cromwell and Commander Hex talking to a helmsman.

"ETA?" Cromwell asked.

"45 seconds." The helmsman responded.

"Captain, what is happening?" The Inquisitor asked.

"There's a planet obstructing our course. We have to drop out of hyperspace to correct the ship's trajectory." Cromwell answered.

"Slowing to impulse." The helmsman said as the ship-exited hyperspace.

The Fourth Sister almost fell backward when they entered the system. She bent down on one knee and continued observing the planet.

"Helm?" Cromwell said. "What am I looking at?"

"M-class planetoid, O2-CO2 atmosphere, 64% ocean, population of around 40 million." The helmsman said.

"Look at the moon." One officer pointed out.

"What in the galaxy?" Cromwell asked in shock, seeing as the moon seemed to have fractured out one side.

Hex took notice of the Fourth Sister. "What is it?"

The Fourth Sister looked to be in shock; she turned to Hex slowly. "Every person on that planet is force sensitive."

The room fell silent.

"Are you sure?" Hex asked.

"I'm quite sure. Never have I felt this much raw power before. But there's something else… Something…" The Fourth Sister suddenly stood up and rushed to the helm. "Raise the shields!"

Before anyone could say or do anything, a small craft decloaked directly in front of the star destroyer and fired two missiles at the bridge. Both scored direct hits just beneath the viewport, rocking the entire room.

"Damage report!" Cromwell called out.

"No effect sir. Neither torpedo detonated." The officer yelled.

"Deploy fighters and arm every gun we've got," Cromwell said.

Meanwhile, aboard the Comet.

"Duds! How could those things be duds?" Drake screamed.

"Go for the solar reactor," Zack suggested.

"Too late, their shields just went up," Jek said.

SC-43 beeped, saying that Tie fighters just launched.

"Great! More Imperial ships!" Drake said.

"How could we of missed that bloody tracker?" Jek asked.

"Drake, fly into the moon's debris field. The Ties won't be able to maneuver through it." Zack said.

"On it!" Drake said.

Just before the Comet entered the asteroid field, one of the Resurgence's main guns scored a direct hit. The Comet rocked, almost making Drake lose control.

"Shields are gone!" Jek said.

"Did you really need to tell me that?" Drake asked while evading boulders and Tie's blaster fire.

The Comet managed to outmaneuver one of the five pursuing Ties and blow it to pieces with its main cannons.

"I can't do this forever!" Drake said.

Zack ran and mounted the turret. He scored a lucky shot on the first Tie he saw, shearing its left-wing off completely. Drake took a sharp turn, narrowly avoiding another boulder. The next Tie in the lineup could not pull the same maneuver though, and crashed into the rock. Zack traded shots with the second to last Tie. The imperial craft knocked a stabilizer off the Comet; Zack hit its cockpit. The last Tie tried to break off but ended up running into the moon itself.

"We're home free!" Zack yelled.

"Not exactly!" Drake said while struggling to maintain control of the Comet.

"We're going to crash on the planet, aren't we?" Jek asked.

"Any landing you can walk away from is a good one!" Drake yelled.

SC-43 beeped out, "Any landing that leaves your ship still useable is a great one."

"Not helping!" Drake said.

The Comet entered Remnant's atmosphere and flew down toward the main continent.

"The scanners are picking up some structures due north. That area also lacks dense trees. Try setting us down there." Jek suggested.

"Roger!" Drake said, using the wind draft to stabilize the Comet enough for an emergency landing. "Brace yourselves!"

The Comet connected with the ground and slid for a quarter of a mile until finally stopping.

"We don't speak of this… ever." Drake said in shock that the Comet survived.

"How are we looking?" Zack asked.

"Well, the engines are toast and we're out a stabilizer… The air conditioning is also out." Drake said, making an ill-humored joke.

Jek started chuckling, "Only you, man."

Zack spotted a building off in the distance.

"Hey, let's go check that out," Zack said before using the emergency hatch to exit the Comet.

"Kid, we have no idea what kind of wildlife this planet has. Not the best idea to…" Drake realized that he was alone in the cockpit and everyone else left. "Why am I always the sole voice of reason on this team?"

Drake exited the Comet and joined his team next to the crash site.

"Midmorning, looks like we have time to explore a bit," Jek said.

"You ever heard of Jet-lag?" Drake asked.

"Stop being a downer, Drake. Come on, we have ground to cover." Zack said.

"A downer? We just got shot down by Imperials!" Drake pointed out.

"We'll deal with them when they become a problem," Jek said.

"I'd say they're a problem right now. They're here after all!" Drake said.

"And they're not going to be doing much for a while," Jek said.

"Says the guy who fired dud torpedoes." Drake pointed out.

"Actually those weren't duds," Jek said.

"What do you mean?" Drake asked.

"Well…" Jek started.

Resurgence engineering room:

Hex and the Fourth Sister walked into main engineering to see sparks flying everywhere and imperial crewmembers rushing to fix stuff.

"What the hell is going on here?" Hex asked the main engineer.

"I don't know; the hyperdrive just died and so did the Navicomputer!" The main engineer said.

The Fourth Sister heard something tapping the ceiling above her, so she drew her lightsaber and cut into the catwalk above her. A mess of wires and tubes fell down; in the center of it all was a halved buzz droid.

"Sabotage!" Hex yelled.

"Where did those things come from?" The main engineer asked.

A wall behind them burst into sparks and flames.

"What was that?" Hex asked.

"I think that's the long-range transmitter." The main engineer said fearfully.

"Commander, send your troopers through every single catwalk and service tunnel on board this ship. Root these pests out!" The Fourth Sister suggested.

Hex tapped his com-link to answer the captain.

"Hex, we just lost the main transmitter. What's going on down there?" Cromwell asked.

"Those missiles from the rebel craft contained buzz droids, sir! They're sabotaging the ship as we speak." Hex said.

"Hex, get those vermin off this ship!" Cromwell ordered.

"Yes sir." Hex said, just as another terminal burst into sparks.

Remnant: Several Hours later

The crew finally arrived at the structures they saw before, only to find the remains of a run-down city.

"This place gives me the creeps," Jek said.

"I hope the whole planet isn't like this," Drake said.

Zack walked up to a wall and placed his hand on it. Through the force, he heard screams and animal-like roars.

"Something terrible happened here. This whole place resonates with the dark side." Zack said.

"I'll say," Drake said, gesturing to a bite mark on a nearby car wreck.

"This place doesn't look that old actually. Maybe a couple decades, I don't know." Jek said.

Zack uncovered a sign from under some debris using the force. The sign read 'Welcome to Mountain Glenn.'

"I think I know what this place was called," Zack said, showing the others.

"Well, what do you think happened here?" Drake asked.

"Any number of things could cause ruin like this, war, deadly pathogen, etc," Jek said.

Zack got a bad feeling about a building to his left. He drew his lightsaber and stabbed into the wall nearest to him. A large wolf-like creature fell through the front of the building, dead.

"Or giant evil-looking wolves," Drake said.

"Zack, you getting a read on that thing?" Jek asked.

"Yeah, it's almost like a pure construct of the dark side. Nothing but evil." Zack said.

"I don't get it, this planet is supposed to be the Jedi homeworld. How could a dark side creature manifest here?" Drake asked.

"Well, master Kota told me once that planets strong with either side of the force usually have one specific spot where the opposite side seems to reside. Maybe this is Remnant's." Zack theorized.

SC-43 beeped about its motion tracker going off.

"More of those things?" Zack asked.

The droid shook its head and responded that the motion signatures looked more like people.

"Hide!" Drake said.

Drake ran behind a busted wall, SC-43 hid in a pothole, and Jek and Zack assumed the creature's hiding place. The street fell quiet for about a minute until two sets of footsteps came walking down toward the crew.

"What the?" One voice said when they caught sight of the dead monster.

"Anyone come by before us?" The other asked.

"No, we're the first patrol to sweep this place today." The first said.

"Look at its neck! It's like something burned straight through it." The second said.

"It hasn't disintegrated yet so whatever did this is still nearby." The first said.

Jek leaned over to Zack and whispered, "Jedi?"

"They're force sensitive, but more like Sith," Zack said.

Jek signaled Drake to take them. Drake jumped out of cover, drew his pistols, and blasted both of their weapons.

"Don't move!" Drake yelled.

Zack, Jek, and SC-43 left their cover. Jek trained his repeaters on the two and Zack drew his blaster pistol. The two members of the patrol wore white uniforms with a red wolf symbol painted on the front, black hoods, black pants, and masks similar to the creature Zack killed.

"Who are you?" Drake yelled.

The two looked at each other as if Drake had a hole in his head.

"I suggest answering him. He gets an itchy trigger finger from time to time." Jek said.

"We're White Fang enforcers. But if you guys don't know that then you must have come from outer space." The first joked.

"Pal, you wouldn't believe the half of it," Jek said.

"So the White Fang is a Sith group?" Zack asked.

"What is a Sith?" The second asked.

Zack took notice that both of them had distinct animal-like features. The first had tusks protruding from his jawbone, and the second possessed a tiger tail.

"What species are you guys?" Zack asked.

The two looked at each other again, this time with genuine concern.

"You people aren't from around here, are you?" The first asked.

"Our origins are none of your business," Drake said hostilely.

"Just tell us where the nearest Jedi outpost is and we'll be on our way," Zack said.

"Jedi, Sith, who they hell are you people?" The second asked.

"Hey, we're asking the questions!" Drake reinforced.

"Who's your leader?" Zack asked.

"We're not telling you that!" The first said.

Jek armed his repeaters.

"Roman Torchwick! Our leader is Roman Torchwick!" The second screamed in fear.

"Where do we find this Roman Torchwick?" Jek asked.

"There's a subway network under the city, he's in there!" The second continued.

Zack sensed a couple more dark side wielders coming from behind them. He turned around just in time to see six similar figures training their weapons on the crew.

"Scatter!" Zack yelled before blasting the first in the chest.

The two goons they held prisoner tried to grab their weapons but Drake scored headshots on both of them. One round grazed Jek, doing nothing, before the droid could find cover. Zack realized that these people were, essentially, Sith warriors. He drew his lightsaber, jumped over the first and cut him down, sidestepped and slashed the second, recoiled and backstabbed the third, decapitated the fourth, and cut the fifth in half. Drake picked one of their weapons up.

"What the? Is this some kind of projectile weapon?" Drake asked.

Zack removed another weapon's magazine, "Looks like their cartridge-based."

"How primitive are these people, they don't even have blaster weapons?" Jek asked.

"They were all force sensitive. That is for sure." Zack said.

"You said something about them being Sith." Jek inquired.

"They used the dark side. I could feel it. The weird part is, their connection to the force seemed weak." Zack said.

"Kid, I hate to say it but you seriously need to consider the possibility that any Jedi that once inhabited this planet is gone now," Drake said.

"He's right Zack, these people are too primitive to be Jedi or Sith. Not to mention they did not even know what those titles were when we brought them up." Jek said.

"They're still force sensitive. Let's just hope that there are people who use the light side too." Zack said.

SC-43 suggested finding Roman Torchwick.

"Yeah, I'll bet that guy can give us some answers," Jek said.

"Should we run into more of these thugs, I think we're good. Zack, you can deflect their shots with your lightsaber, SC-43 is small enough to hide in this terrain, and Jek and I's armor should stop their projectiles cold." Drake said.

"Agreed. Let's find an access route to this subway system." Jek said.

Everyone started moving on, but something stopped Zack. He picked up one of the magazines and pulled out a bullet. Something felt off about it, something familiar.

"Come on, kid!" Drake yelled.

Zack put the bullet in his pocket and kept moving.

The crew searched the city for a while, extensively searching for a subway entrance. The few they managed to find proved useless due to a blocked entrance.

"This is useless!" Jek finally yelled after finding yet another blocked entrance.

"I'm almost tempted to say that these entrances were blocked off on purpose," Drake said, noting several explosive marks near the cave-ins.

"Well with evil monsters roaming around the surface, I wouldn't exactly blame whoever did it," Zack said.

Jek sat down on a concrete slab, "I say we just locate a week point in the road or something and blast it open."

"Come on even if we had the explosives to spare, there could be a good hundred feet of rock in between us and the subway system." Drake pointed out.

"I could try using the force to excavate one of these entrances," Zack suggested.

"Not that I'm trying to be a hindrance, but I would like to point out that lifting this debris could bring the whole building down. These things down exactly look structurally sound." Drake said.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Jek asked, perturbed.

"Figure out another way into the subway, the sewer system might lead down to it," Drake suggested.

SC-43 displayed a hologram of architectural schematics it mapped earlier with its scanners. The sewer systems lead on for miles in every direction, a true labyrinth.

"Well, sewers are out of the question. Anyone have another idea?" Zack asked.

"Nah, I'm out," Jek said.

"Same," Drake said.

SC-43 came up with nothing.

"Well this is a predicament," Zack said.

"Truly," Jek said.

"Okay think, those thugs must have their own way down to the subway. Maybe we look for that." Drake said.

"That might be our best bet right now," Jek said.

A far off gunshot caught Zack's attention.

"What was that?" Zack asked.

"Sounded like a cycler rifle." Drake theorized.

Another shot went off, followed by a series of weaker ones.

"Somebody's fighting something," Jek said.

"Hey, guess this is a start," Drake said.

"Well, hopefully there's a piece of action left for us when we get there," Zack said.

The crew made their way through the city and toward the origin of the fighting. When they arrived, they found a whole pack of dead creatures. Most of the creatures lay in half, cut down by blades rather than ranged weapons.

"Maybe there are Jedi around after all," Jek said, examining the bodies.

"I don't think these marks came from a lightsaber," Drake said.

"You're right; these wounds are open, bleeding. A lightsaber would cauterize them." Zack said.

A bark came from down the street just before a small dog ran into the ally. It stopped and looked at the crew before noticing SC-43. The critter started chasing the droid around in circles. Drake chuckled while SC-43 begged for help.

"I think it likes you buddy," Jek said.

SC-43 finally got fed up with the animal, turned around, and delivered a small electric shock to its nose. The dog stopped chasing SC-43 and just started panting.

"Now where'd it come from?" Jek asked.

"Could be a stray, or a wild animal." Drake theorized.

"Well, it has a collar." Zack said, looking at its dog tag. "Zwei."

"What?" Jek asked.

"Its name is Zwei." Zack said.

The dog barked and licked Zack's hand.

"Hey, Zwei, where's your owner?" Zack said looking around for anyone the dog could belong to.

The dog turned its head and barked in the direction it came from, and then ran in circles.

"Did that thing just understand you?" Jek asked, semi-shocked.

"Well, if the people on this planet are force-sensitive, and those animals have a connection to the dark side, maybe this one has a connection to the force as well." Zack said.

More weapons fire came from a close block. SC-43 picked up multiple motion signatures resembling humans and more monsters.

"I think that's our Que." Drake said.

The crew made their way to the fighting, led by Zwei. When they arrived, they spotted a horde of monsters going after four teenage girls and a middle-aged man.

"Looks like they need some help," Drake said, drawing his pistols.

"You read my mind," Jek said before he and Drake rushed the creatures.

Zack spotted a different kind of monster, more closely resembling a hawk, observing the fight. This one was considerably larger than the other monsters, and its bones seemed to armor it. He started climbing the building next to him, in order to sneak up on the creature.

Meanwhile, Jek and Drake ripped every monster around them to pieces. One tried to lunge at Jek, only to receive a mouth full of laser fire. Two more went for Drake but met his flamethrower. Drake turned around and blasted another creature upside the head. Jek failed to notice one monster sneaking up on him until one of the girls killed it with a sniper rifle. Jek watched as the same girl turned to weapon into a scythe and cut several other monsters down.

"Man! That's awesome!" Jek yelled before dealing with some other creatures.

Zack reached the same floor as the hawk and slowly began sneaking up on it. Once in range, he drew his lightsaber and sheered the beast's wing off. The monster croaked and tried to escape by jumping out the window. Zack followed it and used the beast to brace his own fall. The impact stopped the whole fight on the ground. The hawk attempted to recover, but Zack stabbed into its head. The remaining monsters all charged Zack. However, their mistake allowed Zack to force push them all into a building, killing them instantly.

"Wow!" One of the girls in a black and white dress said.

Zack slid down the dead creature and rejoined his team.

"Everyone alright?" Zack asked.

"You're the one who just jumped out a ten-story building. Are you okay?" The girl in a white dress asked.

"He's done worse," Drake added.

"Is that a plasma sword?" The girl who saved Jek asked enthusiastically.

Zack realized his lightsaber was still active, "Oh, this is my lightsaber."

"Fascinating!" The man yelled. "A concentrated energy beam, capable of melting through almost any alloy nearly instantaneously! Genius!"

"Yeah, that's basically a lightsaber," Zack said.

"Are you guys huntsmen?" The girl with neon yellow hair asked.

"What's a huntsman?" Jek asked ignorantly.

"Sorry, but we're not from around here. I'm a Jedi, my friend here is a battle droid, and my other friend is a Mandalorian." Zack said.

"Never heard of any of those." The girl with neon yellow hair said.

SC-43 and Zwei and made their way over once the fighting stopped.

"Zwei!" The girl who saved Jek yelled, giving the dog a hug.

"Oh, so he's yours?" Drake asked.

"Yeah, thanks for finding him. He ran off while we were fighting these Grim." The same girl explained.

"Grim? I guess that's a better name than what we've been calling them." Jek said.

"Who are you guys to not know what Huntsmen and Grim are?" The girl with the white dress asked.

"That's a story all to itself," Zack said.

"We're looking for an entrance into the subway system. You guys wouldn't happen to know where we could find an open one, would you?" Jek asked.

"Why do you guys need to go down there?" The same girl asked.

"We're looking for a thug boss named Roman Torchwick, a couple of his guys told us we could find him down there," Drake said.

"Yeah before they tried to kill us." Jek scoffed.

"Excellent! It appears we are looking for the same target. Since you four seem to possess exceptional combat skill, we should consider working together to apprehend our target." The man said.

"Sure. Oh, and I'm Zack Raider." Zack said.

"Drake Shilo," Drake said.

"Jek, ah, it's just Jek," Jek said.

SC-43 beeped.

"Oh, and this is SC-43," Zack said.

"I'm Ruby Rose." The girl with the sniper rifle said.

"I am Weiss Schnee." The girl in the white dress said.

"Name's Yang Xiao Long." The girl with neon yellow hair said.

"I'm Blake." The girl in the black and white dress said.

"And I am Dr. Oobleck." The man said.

"Come again," Drake said, confused.

"Dr. Oobleck, huntsman of Vale and professor at Beacon Academy." Dr. Oobleck said.

"So what brings you guys to Mountain Glenn, other than Torchwick?" Yang asked.

"It's a long story," Drake said.

Zack sensed that these people were Jedi, or at least light side force users.

"I think it's okay to tell them, Drake," Zack said.

"Tell us what?" Weiss asked.

"Well you see, we're not exactly from Remnant," Jek said.

The huntsman and huntresses all looked at Jek oddly.

"Yeah, I'm from a planet called Shiiak. Drake is from another called Anteevy. And Jek is from a planet called Moltok. I'm not really sure about SC-43, he kind of just showed up." Zack said.

"You guys are some kind of aliens?" Weiss asked with suspicion.

SC-43 dispelled all doubt by displaying a hologram of the entire galaxy and highlighting Shiiak, Anteevy, Moltok, and Ventooine.

"Wow!" Ruby said.

"That's awesome," Yang said.

"What's Ventooine?" Weiss asked.

"Well, that's the Rebel HQ. At least for now, they change it up every once in a while." Jek said.

"Rebels?" Blake asked.

"I think I can answer a couple questions with one shot here. But it is a long story, so we better find cover because it will be dark soon." Zack said.

Resurgence:

The Fourth Sister sat meditating inside her quarters. Just before the Rebel attack, she sensed something on the surface of the planet… Something dark... Something, exploitable.

She now knew the Rebel's true goal; raise a Jedi army against the empire. However, something waited in the darkness down on the planet. A shadow, perhaps as strong with the dark side as even Vader himself. Now, she knew how to defeat the Rebels and thwart their plan.

"Captain, prepare my shuttle and a fighter escort." She said into her com station.

"Ma'am, this ship is effectively crippled until we locate and eliminate all the remaining rebel droids. I'm sorry, but the damage they've done is far too extensive to risk launching a shuttlecraft." Cromwell said.

"What about a single fighter?" The Inquisitor asked.

"Doable, but I would caution you against traveling to the surface alone," Cromwell said.

The Fourth Sister grinned under her helmet, "Do not worry about my safety Captain, I will be quite alright. Besides, I'll be returning with an ally; one way, or another." The Fourth Sister said ominously.

* * *

**Q and A:**

**Keybladelight: Isn't Typhon the Jedi homeworld?**

**Answer: They say it is in the Old Republic games. Nevertheless, I find that highly unlikely due to there being an actual starship in one of the ancient Jedi manuscripts in a vault later in the same game. To be honest, we'll probably never receive a concrete answer as to where the Jedi really originated. (Part of the joy in Star Wars, it keeps you guessing.)**


End file.
